


Feel the Heat Coming Down

by dugindeep (hotsauce)



Category: CW Network RPF
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 22:05:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotsauce/pseuds/dugindeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen and Danneel are a pair of successful grifters with a long history of clean escapes. After stealing the wrong things from the wrong people, they're forced to take on a bank job to clear the debt. For the first time in their careers, they're not equipped for the task, especially when Jared becomes a major complication between the couple. He just might be the one thing standing between them and what could be Jensen’s dream for retirement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feel the Heat Coming Down

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 2012 [polybigbang](http://polybigbang.livejournal.com/)! Huge thanks to the mods for being so delightful and lovely while running this challenge. Thanks to [clex_monkie89](http://clex-monkie89.livejournal.com/) for her pinch hit art! To the randoms out there who listened to me talk about this story with equal parts confusion, glee, and worry. And to [tebtosca](http://tebtosca.livejournal.com/) for cheerleading, beta, handholding, and support of a great threesome :-*
> 
> Warnings: shades of infidelity, non-con advances, gun violence akin to that seen on TV

Danneel Harris is a modern goddess and Jensen can’t stop staring. It’s not just how she’s done up for the party, with her long waves pulled away from her face and cascading down her back, or the shortest shorts, creamy silk camisole, and gold, strappy heels. That all doesn’t hurt a bit, but Jensen’s more aware of how she carries herself, confidently gliding through the crowd on the back lawn and surrounding the in-ground pool. How she stands out against the dinginess of Pellegrino’s guests and crew.

It’s another one of Mark Pellegrino’s parties at his sprawling estate. The billionaire’s guests are the standard of other rich men who have come across their money in the same questionable fashion Pellegrino has. They also have come to this party with girls on their arms, many of whom seem like Danneel is - far too young and far too good for their men.

Jensen can see that Danneel is a woman far above than the others, more confident and proud of herself. It’s what first drew Jensen in, that’s for sure. His eyes are still on her when she approaches Pellegrino, dressed in of all his Tommy Bahama glory. Jensen watches as she slinks into Pellegrino’s side and under his arm, glancing up at him with demure eyes. Jensen’s stomach turns when she smiles and accepts his kiss on her cheek.

A hand lands on Jensen’s shoulder and drags his attention away. “Hey, what’re you doing out here?” the guy asks. Paul, Jensen thinks. He’s dressed just as Jensen is - cheap black pants, white button-up, and maroon polyester vest with matching tie.

Jensen covertly looks for Danneel again; she’s now being led to the large patio table by Pellegrino’s hand on her ass. He scowls then rights himself when he finds Paul still staring at him, awaiting an answer. 

“Using the John,” Jensen says easily. He dopily smiles like he wouldn’t know better, as if he weren’t spying on the party and the host’s hot girlfriend.

Paul follows Jensen’s gaze and rolls his eyes. As he shoves Jensen back onto the stone sidewalk around the side of the house and to their valet stand, he laughs at Jensen. “Dude, you could never land a girl as hot as that.”

“You never know,” he replies with a cocky shrug. “You ain’t seen my moves yet.”

Paul watches a Bentley GT pulling into the circular driveway and shakes his head at Jensen, all while Jensen sizes the car up. “What? You think at the end of the night you’ll just ease her right into a car and drive off into the sunset? You’re a fucking _valet_ , and Pellegrino’s the area’s richest guy. He’s paid up through the century.”

Jensen knows this car’s got a $200,000 price tag on it. He’s admiring it as much as he’s paying attention to how quickly he opens the door to let the new guests out. Paul hands them a valet ticket, takes their keys, and drives off to the parking area. As soon as he’s back, Jensen hangs the new key ring among the others in the cabinet below the valet stand.

“Besides,” Paul continues, “Girls like that don’t get with guys like us. They’re there for the money, the gifts, and the excitement of someone as cool as Pellegrino. What’re you gonna give her, huh? A few flowers you picked from a neighbor's yard? A ride in your Toyota??”

He tries to ignore Paul, really. It’s probably best to just let the man go on when he hasn’t got a clue, but sometimes it’s hard to let people remind Jensen where he came from - a place with nothing. With his eyes set on another six-figure payoff heading their way - a pitch black Alfa Romeo coming up the drive - Jensen murmurs, “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Yeah, right. More like you’ve got the clap or something from all the girls down under the viaducts.”

When the car stops in front of them, Paul again takes the lead and drives the car down the way.

With Paul gone, and thank fuck because that guy won’t shut up, Jensen runs his fingers over every keyring, pausing on the large keys to check the emblems on the fobs. He stops on a drastic image of a crown, thinks _Maserati_ , and grins. He remembers the middle-aged guy with the strong accent and a girl young enough to be his granddaughter who came through. He remembers thinking the cradlerobber was overcompensating for pulling up in a black and orange sports car that costs that much and looks like that. It’s probably one of the fastest on the planet given how the guy had spun onto the estate, and Jensen can feel the want course his veins.

Paul comes back and Jensen’s fingers are closing around the key ring. He’s not sure he should grab it right now. He had a plan for this, a schedule to abide by, but he thinks he could easily slip the keys off the hook and tuck them into his pocket. Yet, Paul’s standing a bit too close for his liking, so Jensen easily leans onto the valet stand and waits it out.

After another ten minutes of Paul counting all the ways valets are outranked by the guests of this part, they’re both shocked by the hard click-clack of heels on the stone walkway. All night, guests have been heading away from them. Right now, a woman’s heels are coming towards them.

Paul is immediately distracted when Danneel comes into view, looking gorgeous as ever as she shyly bites her lower lip and crosses her arms across her chest, hands rubbing over her bare arms. Jensen watches her carefully, trying his best to not be obvious when he takes the time to appreciate the smooth, tan skin of her legs.

“Can we help you ma’am?” Paul asks with a wide smile.

She quickly glances at Jensen then turns to Paul and nods. As she requests her car, Jensen takes the stolen moment to pocket the Maserati keys.

“It’s my turn,” he insists to Paul, gesturing towards the field of cars a half-mile away.

He jogs across the lawn and easily finds the Maserati among all the silver sedans and red and yellow sports cars. With the kind of thrill only felony robbery can provide, Jensen’s nerves fire up and he grins when the key easily slides into place and the door pops open. The leather gives for him in the driver’s seat, having retained that _new car smell_ , and he revs the engine a few times, feeling it vibrate deep into his chest. Then he puts it into gear and pulls out onto the turnaround towards the house.

He can’t help himself when he pulls up in front of Paul and Danneel and revs the engine once more as he leans over the console and eyes her. She looks up from her cell phone and stares flatly. He can tell she’s checking out the whole car, probably wondering why the hell he brought this one to her, cursing him out in her head for being such a flashy asshole.

He winks at her and after a few seconds she finally smirks and tugs the passenger side door open to slink right into the seat.

Jensen leans even further forward, right into her space, and nods at Paul. “Hey, asshole,” he calls out, even when Paul is watching them with his mouth dropped. “Told ya.”

Paul’s eyes go even wider when Jensen rests his hand on Danneel’s knee, fingers curling around it.

“And I quit,” Jensen adds before driving off into the darkness of the surrounding woods.

Thirty minutes out and Danneel’s feeling twitchy. She pulls the visor down and flips the mirror open, disappointed when there’s nothing hidden there. Instead, she checks her reflection, licks her lips, then smacks them together.

“Do you have it?” he asks. When she turns in her seat to look at him, his eyes are stuck on the winding gravel road.

“Where are we going?” she asks instead.

“I got a place.”

She blinks. “You got _a place_?” He doesn’t respond, yet she knows he heard her from the small scowl starting on his face. “Does it have a cloaking device for the world’s most obnoxious car?”

He rolls his eyes and she can tell he’s biting his tongue, too.

“Just saying,” she says lightly. “It’s kind of atrocious.”

“Do you have it or not?”

Danneel can feel the weight of the jewelry on her, relives stalking through Pellegrino’s home to snatch it from his library. Diamond earrings, necklace, and matching tennis bracelet he’d had lifted from a couple in Rhode Island who had outbid him at a charity auction and unknowingly triggered Pellegrino’s bitter streak.

She continues to watch him and when his fingers curl tightly over the steering wheel, she smirks, enjoying the sight of him on edge. “You’ll get what you want, when I get what I want.”

He huffs a laugh and shakes his head, and she shifts forward in her seat to watch the night pass them as he speeds across empty lands.

It’s another ten minutes when he finally slows down, takes a few turns, and pulls down a dirt path leading far off the road and to an old farmhouse. She makes a short noise when she sees how weathered the window slats are, where the roof’s sunken in on the north side.

He is surprisingly proud when he pulls into a barn that seems like it’ll sufficiently hide the Maserati behind tall piles of hay. His dark sedan is parked there, too.

His pride carries them into the house, and she waits on the stairs in the foyer as he searches the place for … whatever he’s hoping is or isn’t there.

When he’s done, he stops before her at the bottom of the stairs, just a few feet down, and stares at her. “Well?”

“Well what?”

He puts his hand out, beckoning her to give the pieces over.

She rests a hand on her hip and puts on her best seductive voice, “Aren’t you gonna ask nicely?”

His lips turn up into a smile before he grabs her wrist and yanks her forward. She falls into him and he deftly holds her up by the hips and ass, keeps her close, and immediately sucks a mark into her neck.

Danneel moans and wraps her legs around his waist, arms around his neck. She tucks his head closer when he hits her pulse point and she immediately feels her heartbeat pulse between her legs. She holds tighter when he walks them into the living room, and keeps on holding as he drops them both down to a sofa with a bounce.

She _oomphs_ then laughs as he does, too, and stretches out beneath him with a lazy smile.

“So,” Jensen says before dropping a soft kiss to her mouth. “Do you,” and another kiss, “have it,” and another, “or do I,” one to her neck, “have to,” her collarbone, “search you,” and finally the swell of her breasts.

Licking her lips, relishing how his eyes go dark as she does it, Danneel reaches into the front pocket of her shorts to pull the necklace out. Jensen shifts to the side and takes it from her. The necklace drapes across his palm and shines in the twilight coming through the windows behind the couch.

“You are so gorgeous,” he murmurs at it. He puts it on the side table just above their heads and looks at her. “What about the others?”

Coyly, she tips her head to the side so her hair spills off her shoulder to reveal one diamond earring. He dips in and kisses up along her jaw and behind her ear before nudging her to the other side so he can do the same to her other ear where the matching earring is.

Jensen runs the back of his knuckles down her arm and to her bare wrist. He brings her hand up to his mouth so he can kiss her palm while watching her and feels like putty in his hands, letting him pull each of her hands up to his lips. “And the bracelet?”

Danneel bends her knee up with her foot sliding along his side. His hand drags down her thigh until he closes it around her ankle where the bracelet is clasped. He sits back as she lifts her leg higher and kisses the inside of her ankle. Slowly, he trails his lips up her shin, the inside of her knee, and up her thigh. She easily curls her legs around his hips as he moves back over her because this is exactly what she needs after being fired up at the mansion.

“You are such a conniving, dirty, little thief,” he whispers against her lips.

She hums and slides her hands over his neck and higher to cup his face. “You love it.”

“I do,” he agrees and takes her mouth in a hard, searing kiss.

Danneel arches up to him and he presses down, rolling his hips. She loves this - they both do. This high they both ride after a grab. It’s been like this for fifteen years, since they were in high school and plotted a late night when he helped her break into the garage of a local gangbanger who’d stolen her little brother’s bike. It was so stupid and reckless to try, but they’d done it dressed all in black in the cover of night, with just a screwdriver in Jensen’s hand to jimmy the garage door open.

She can still remember the gleam in her brother’s eyes when he saw his favorite dirt bike back in their own basement. She remembers how proud Jensen had looked, and how surprised he was when she jumped him with a sloppy kiss once they were alone. They’ve come a long way from that night, and they’ve gotten better - as world-class thieves and lovers.

Jensen proves the latter when he slides his hand down her side to cup her ass, fingers digging in and lips warm against her neck. “You know how much I hated watching him touch you?” he murmurs.

Danneel just barely frowns. She’s had to watch Jensen seduce dozens of women over time, has to live with the knowledge that they both do things they don’t really enjoy to make a big payday. Still, she jokes, “Know how much I hated seeing you in this stupid get-up?” She tugs on the cheap tie. “Polyester is awful for your skin tone, baby.”

He chuckles against her skin then runs his hand beneath her camisole, moves it up to palm her breast, thumbing her nipple through her bra. She shivers with the touch and he smiles darkly at her. “Did he touch you like this?”

“No one touches me like you do,” she assures him. Her fingers close around the back of the vest and tug. “Take this off.”

Jensen sits back long enough to remove the vest, tie, and shirt, and Danneel happily hums as she runs her hands over his smooth chest and around to his back. He moves in to kiss her, all while unbuttoning her shorts and slipping his hand in to rub over the silk of her panties, lower to the growing wetness of her pussy.

She wiggles beneath him as she pulls her camisole up and off. “Take ‘em off,” she says of her bottoms.

“So bossy,” he replies, but listens to her anyway.

Her shorts, top, and panties are gone, and she takes off her bra as he shucks his own pants, socks, and underwear off. He grabs a condom from his wallet, preps himself, then settles above her. She lifts her leg against his side with her foot rubbing along his back and inviting him in. He pushes into her, making them both moan, and they rock against one another.

It’s not great on the old, lumpy couch, but she can’t care when he’s inside and draped over her, holding her close. He knows their rhythm and fucks into her slow but firm, grunting as she whimpers and clutches his back, scratches, and gropes.

She’s quickly lost in it, feeling the heat of him all around her, and she drops her legs as wide as she can. Jensen plants his knees and cants his hips up, slides faster as their breathing gets harsh. She pulls him down for a hard kiss and they both lose themselves in it, tongues winding, lips sucking. Fumbling, he reaches between them and rubs his fingers over her clit, sliding in her wetness to get her off. And she does. She jerks up and forces him further inside as she orgasms. He buries himself even deeper as she clenches around him, and he bites her neck when he comes.

After a shower the next morning, Jensen comes down the stairs in jeans and a tee, scrubbing a towel over his head. He smiles when he finds Danneel finally awake with just her camisole and panties on while stretched out on the couch and playing with his phone.

When she sees him, she lifts the phone in the air and shakes it. “You really need to work on your jealousy, baby.”

He shucks the towel to the side when he sees she’s looking through photos he’d taken last night. There were plenty of Pellegrino’s place and the party’s guests, but he’d also snatched quite a few of Danneel throughout the night. He pulls her legs up and sits down, bringing her feet back to his lap. “Like you haven’t had your own li’l bitch fits.”

Danneel kicks his thigh, but it’s light, and they know they’re both right. She hands the phone back to him. “Matt called while you were upstairs.”

“What’d he want?”

“The goods.”

Jensen starts a call with their friend, the one who finds them buyers for their steals. “He’s not getting you.”

“Oh, babe,” she coos, sitting up to kiss him.

As he waits for Matt to pick up, he combs his free hand through her hair, pushing it off her face. He smiles when he sees the bite marks on her neck and thumbs over the blemishes.

“It’s like you do it on purpose,” she accuses, playfully.

He kisses her instead of replying, then pulls away when he hears Matt on the other line. “We’ve got the triad,” Jensen says.

“Any problems?” Matt asks.

“Negatory.”

“How’s the place?”

Jensen glances around and shakes his head. “A li’l worn for wear, but good enough.”

“Best options in that area, man. The farm's for sale."

“I’m not complaining. I just think we’re ready to hit the road soon.”

Danneel slides closer, drapes her arms around his shoulders, and nods as she watches him.

“We can meet up around five. Think you can make it then?”

He looks up to the clock over the fireplace. It’s nine in the morning and it’ll take a few hours to get to their meet-up spot. They’ll deal with it. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Alright. Good luck, buddy,” Matt says as a sign-off.

Jensen puts his phone to the side table and rubs Danneel’s lower back. “We’ve got a few hours to burn. Wanna hit the shower?”

Danneel hums, swings her legs around, and straddles his lap. “I think I have a better idea.”

When she grinds into his lap, his hands come to her hips. “I think you do, too.”

Danneel sits easily beneath Jensen’s arm as they rest on one side of a booth in a tiny corner diner, and she pushes the remains of her turkey sandwich towards the waitress as their coffees are refilled. The sandwich is standard diner fare and Danneel is left unsatisfied, but she’s used to it by now. They don’t often meet Matt in the best of places, just can’t.

“And we’ll have the fudge cake,” Jensen says before the waitress steps away.

Once the woman’s gone to fetch their dessert, Danneel kisses his cheek. “You’re so good to me.”

He rubs her shoulder. “I think my partner deserves something nice for a job well done.”

“I’d rather keep the diamonds.”

“I would, too,” he chuckles. He then nods when Matt comes through the front door and heads their way.

They both sit up in the booth and smile at Matt, exchanging hellos and general pleasantries as if they’re just standard friends happening upon one another.

“Scale of one to ten?” Matt asks, testing how difficult this job had been.

Jensen looks at Danneel and she shrugs. It wasn’t the best experience to cozy up to Pellegrino and be surrounded by his armed men for two weeks straight, but it could have been worse. Getting through the party and snatching the jewelry from Pellegrino’s study had been the easy part. “Piece of cake.”

“Speaking of,” Jensen says as the waitress puts the double-sized slice of fudge cake between them.

Danneel immediately grabs the fork off the plate and slices an edge off the cake. She softly moans as she tastes the fudge melting on her tongue.

“You and those cakes,” Matt mutters.

Jensen laughs and Danneel happily takes another large chunk out of the cake. “You find something to make your girl sound like that,” Jensen says, pointing at Danneel, “you’re not gonna keep her from it.”

Matt rolls his eyes and orders key lime pie, his own guilty pleasure.

After some general catch-up and as Matt digs into his dessert, Jensen sits forward with his elbows on the table. “You know anyone in the business for a new car?”

“What kind of car?”

“Something real pretty.”

“Pretty ugly,” Danneel adds on. She doesn’t bother looking at Jensen; she knows he’s glaring at her. “It’s some obnoxious orange thing.”

“Where at?” Matt asks.

“In the barn,” Jensen replies.

“At your hideaway?”

Jensen nods and Danneel rolls her eyes. She’s not going to point out how stupid Jensen was to take something while already on a job, but she’ll agree that there’s a possibility for a fat payment on it. Jensen looks proud, like he did the night before, when he puts the Maserati key on the tabletop. Yet he keeps his hand cupped over it so it’s not obvious to anyone within view.

Danneel has another bite of cake and turns the fork over in her mouth, licking the tines clean as she watches Matt watch Jensen. “Are you telling me,” she asks innocently, “that the man who wants a few hundred grand in diamonds wouldn’t like to have a Maserati MX in his garage, too?”

Matt reaches for the key but Jensen closes his hand over it. “It’s not like I don’t know where it is now. I can still grab it.”

Jensen holds the key up in the air. “Keychip.”

With a sigh, Matt scrapes the last chunk of his pie onto a fork, eats, and washes it down with water. “Lemme see the jewelry.”

Danneel takes the fabric roll out of her purse and sets it near Matt’s arm on the table. He pulls the roll into his lap and opens it, then quickly rolls it back into place. When his only move is for his water glass, she sweetly smiles. “Matty, are you not gonna play nicely?”

“Do you really have an MX?” he asks, looking between the two of them.

Jensen nods and Matt blinks at him. “You took it off the grounds? Were you trying to draw attention?”

“He has a habit of it,” she replies.

Matt sighs and shakes his head, going quiet as the waitress leaves their check on the table. A few seconds pass and he pulls a thick envelope out of the inside of his jacket. He slides it across the table and Danneel takes the money, putting it in her purse. “Not even gonna count it?”

“Twenty thousand now, twenty when you sell it,” she says. When Matt makes a face, she sighs. “I’d rather not count it in the middle of Huckleberry.”

“Just makin’ sure you two aren’t getting too careless.”

“Like Jensen and the Maserati?” Danneel gives Jensen a look, still unsure what he was thinking. He has the habit of making dumb decisions in the middle of a job. Sometimes because he thinks it’s best (but it isn’t) or just for the hell of it. She’ll chalk this one up to him having to shove his bravado down Paul’s throat. And maybe even Matt’s, given how cocky he is about selling it.

“I’m not gettin’ in the middle of this,” Matt says with a head shake. "Count the money or don’t.”

She tilts her head to watch him. “Should we not trust you after ten years?”

Matt winks. “Oh, you can trust me all night long, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Jensen cuts in, voice tight and hand even tighter around Danneel’s shoulder.

That infamous bravado creeps up when his hand slinks over the front of her shoulder to tug her in even tighter. Danneel goes with him easily; she doesn’t have to admit that she enjoys the green-eyed monster creeping up on Jensen. They both know it.

Matt tosses his napkin to the table and lifts his hands in defeat. “However you two operate is your own business. I’ll never get why you stick around with him.”

Jensen glares and as Danneel listens closely, she can hear a soft rumble starting in his throat, like he’s ready to pounce to protect his girl. Danneel smirks with that knowledge, and at Matt for starting it all. 

She bites her lower lip. “He’s really good with his hands.”

Matt seems to finally give in when he drops a few dollars on the table and nudges his abandoned pie to the middle of the table. “You two are some strange Bonnie and Clyde crap that I’m not stepping into.” 

As Matt stands, Jensen pipes up, “That MX.”

Matt warily assesses Jensen. “Yeah, I’ll get back to you on that.”

Once he’s gone, Danneel swipes her finger across Matt’s plate, nabbing key lime filling and graham cracker crumbs that she sucks off with a pleased noise. 

“Baby,” Jensen murmurs.

She looks up with a hum, her finger conveniently still in her mouth, and she’s certain that’s why he’s giving her such an intense look. She drags the finger from her lips and sweetly smiles. “Yes, baby?”

“Think we should get outta here?”

“Yes, I do! I’ll get the check,” she insists and snaps the bill off the table. There isn’t much room in the booth, and she takes full advantage of that when she crawls over his lap, purposely pressing up close and breathing along his neck when she shuffles past. When he grabs her ass on her way out of the booth, she swats his hand away.

“Later,” she mouths then winks when he salutes in return.

Jensen can’t stop the shake of his knee as he sits across from Danneel on a cafe patio. He adjusts his sunglasses and surveys the area, trying to spot their lunch partner. Matt had called the day before with a promise of an interested party for the MX. It only took him three days and Jensen is vibrating with the potential for a cool $100,000. He hasn’t told her yet, but he wants to sweep Danneel off to an island for a good long time. Maybe they'll find a way to survive on beach living and stop running their way across the country.

He thinks she’d fall in love with him all over if they can do it. He can’t wait to tell her of his plans, can’t wait to follow through with it and soak up her sun-kissed skin for weeks on end. His girl looks great in a two-piece. 

As his skin tingles with the image, Danneel is cool across the table with her hair piled atop her head, sunglasses perched on her nose, and playing with her phone. 

“What’s a six-letter word for foolish?” she asks, index finger on her touchscreen.

She’s probably playing one of her word games and Jensen thinks over her question as he takes a long sip of beer. “Insane?”

“That works, too.”

“It fits?”

“It definitely fits you.” Danneel looks at him over the top of her sunglasses. 

He gets her joke, that he’s the six-letter word. “It’s not gonna be so insane when we get all that cash.”

She hums and goes back to her phone. 

“What?”

With a shrug, she makes a face. “I dunno. I’ve just got a bad feeling about this.”

He smiles, warm and sure. “This is the easiest paycheck we’ll ever make. It’s gonna be beautiful.” Just to charm her, he adds, “Just like you.”

“You are so shameless,” she mumbles.

Jensen can tell she’s smiling, cheeks going pink, so he smiles, too. “Well, thank you, darlin’.”

Danneel winks. “You’re welcome, darlin’.”

“Well, hello, darlings,” says an accented voice.

They both look up to a short, dark-haired, older man. He has a coy smile as he tips his heads towards them and Jensen feels a vague notion that he knows this guy. 

“No sweet welcoming?” the guy asks. “Then I’ll just have to make myself at home.” He sits next to Jensen and reaches for Jensen’s water. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Jensen had passed on the water for a cold, draft beer, and he’s now certain this is their buyer, so he’s not about to protest. “No, help yourself.”

He takes the water glass and primly sips from it, setting it down carefully, and happily sighing. “You know what I love about the big city? Crisp, clean water.”

Jensen finds Danneel setting her phone on the table and staring right at him, sunglasses on the table like she has to clearly watch everything. He clears his throat and offers his hand to their guest. “Hi, I’m Jensen and this is-”

“Danneel, my kitten,” comes another voice from behind Jensen.

A second later, Danneel is completely frozen, biting her lower lip like she doesn’t want to blurt out her shock. It’s a second too late when Jensen recognizes that voice, and he’s equally shocked and unable to respond when Mark Pellegrino drops into the seat next to Danneel.

“Now, c’mon, sweetheart. Is this how you greet me? After all that we’ve shared?”

“Hi, Mark,” she says, faking sweetness.

Jensen can read her immediate discomfort when Pellegrino leans in to touch her neck and kiss her cheek, and his hackles rise up like a volcano. His skin is vibrating for a completely different reason now, but he knows he can’t react just yet. 

They were well aware of Pellegrino’s reputation when they accepted the job a month ago. It’d been said that he cut off all four fingers of a man’s right hand for skimming off the top of a betting scheme, leaving the guy with just his thumb. Jensen can only imagine what Pellegrino would do to them for blatantly playing him and stealing right out of his house while he entertained dozens of other criminals.

Pellegrino is doing something akin to _petting_ Danneel’s neck and she avoids Jensen’s eyes. “I was worried when you left the party in such a rush. I tried checking on you, but your phone was conveniently unavailable.” 

“I’ve been having service problems,” she lies. She’d tossed _that_ phone out the Maserati’s window while Jensen was doing 90 down abandoned roads. 

He grabs her phone off the table. “Yes, I can tell. Either way, it’s a good thing I found you now.” 

“Yes,” the other man says, eying Jensen. “Good thing we’ve all found one another. And that you found my Maserati.”

Jensen’s veins go cold as he realizes this is the very man who handed him the key when he was playing valet. Then his nerves flare up when he thinks of Matt’s phone call, declaring he found someone who wanted the MX.

“Ah, but my manners.” He puts his hand out for Jensen, reviving the aborted handshake. “Mark Sheppard. The man you stole a very expensive car from.”

Respectfully, and out of fear for the trouble they’re now in, Jensen accepts Sheppard’s hand and curtly nods. “I’d say more like borrowed,” he tries to joke. 

Danneel subtly glares at him and Sheppard laughs, all while Pellegrino keeps admiring her. 

“Yes, I would imagine you’d do me the favor of giving it back now.”

Jensen takes a shaky sip of beer and concedes. “I’d imagine I would. How did you find us anyhow?”

“You think that car is easy to hide?”

“I suppose not.”

“And neither are you. So I gather that now you’ll also do me and my business partner here,” he motions to Pellegrino, “another favor.”

Pellegrino looks at Danneel, now intense, losing all pretense of fondness. “The diamonds.”

Jensen figures there’s no need to stall or lie now. “They’re already gone.”

“Brilliant,” Sheppard says and presses his hands together. “We were hoping you’d say that.”

Danneel raises an eyebrow and Sheppard grins at her. 

“From what I can gather, you two are quite the players, so I figure …” Sheppard spreads his hands with a shrug. “Why not put those talents to work _for_ us. Rather than against.” 

Jensen clears his throat. Everything is spinning away from him and the only thing he knows for sure is he doesn’t like owing anyone anything. It’s why they take, sell, and move on. The only connection he and Danneel maintain is with Matt, and even that relationship is loose. They’ve never wanted the threat of being tied to someone who can leverage them, and Jensen now wonders how smart they were to keep Matt on speed dial.

“We’re not asking here,” Pellegrino states firmly. 

“Yeah, I got that,” Jensen reluctantly says. “So what are you looking for? More jewels? Cars?”

“Maybe a bit of both and more?” 

“Consider it reparations,” Sheppard says.

Jensen chuckles and shifts in his seat when Danneel opens her mouth to speak. “For how much?”

“Darling, it’s more like _how long_.”

“We don’t play well with others,” Jensen cuts in. He points a look at Danneel then turns to Sheppard. “It’s not really our thing.”

Pellegrino hums. “It seems like respect isn’t really your thing either.”

“What do you want us to do?” she asks. 

“There’s a safety deposit box in Southwood with some very important paperwork,” Sheppard says. 

Jensen shakes his head. “We don’t do banks.”

“Well, it sounds like you’ll be expanding your portfolio.”

He’s afraid to ask but he takes in Pellegrino, who’s watching him right back with a smooth yet creepy smile. “And what do you want?”

“What else do banks have but money?” Jensen sighs and prepares to argue against that when Pellegrino strokes Danneel’s neck as she flinches away. “And I think you also owe me another little piece.”

“No,” Jensen says immediately, firm with anger. 

Pellegrino keeps staring at him but Jensen can see from the corner of his eye that the grip on Danneel’s neck tightens and she flinches again. “Yes.”

Sheppard sighs and rolls his eyes. “Not in public, you caveman.”

Danneel slides to the other side of her chair and rubs her neck. Then suddenly asks, “What are on the papers?” 

Jensen glares at her for actually considering playing nice with these two, and her only response is a tight look. 

Yes, they’re stuck between a rock and another very large rock, but he’s not up for seriously considering this. About five seconds into the realization, Jensen had figured they’d let the conversation end as quickly as possible then escape, maybe to that island he’s been daydreaming about. With a little less cash, but the same intention: to move on.

Apparently Danneel isn’t on the same page because she’s openly listening as Sheppard explains how to un-fuck themselves. 

“The important thing to remember,” Sheppard says, leaving no room for argument, “Is that you have stolen from the wrong people. And if you don’t follow through, then I will have to let my friend here do great damage your pretty, little girlfriend.”

Pellegrino smiles at Jensen. “Which I would hate to enjoy.” It’s obvious that he is entertained by whatever incredible ideas are floating through his head. He reaches under the table for Danneel’s leg and she kicks hard enough that the table rattles and the people around them turn in surprise. 

“Oh, kitten,” Pellegrino chuckles and strokes the back of his hand down her neck. “So feisty. Just as I remember.”

“I swear to God,” Jensen grits out, starting to rise out of his chair, but Sheppard’s strong grip on his shoulder forces him back into his seat. 

“Jensen, my dear fellow,” Sheppard warns. “I would be a bit more gracious for the opportunity, if I were you.”

“We’ll do it,” Danneel says quickly. 

Jensen turns to her. “Danneel-”

“Just let us know when and where to be, and we’ll get your papers.”

Sheppard grins and claps his hands together. “Lovely. I am quite excited for this new partnership.” He stands and politely nods. “We will be in touch.”

Pellegrino rises, too, and touches Danneel’s ear. “We definitely will be.”

She angrily recoils, and Pellegrino tsks. 

They’re both quiet and still until they’re left alone. Once they are, Jensen pulls his phone out to call Matt, but only gets voicemail. It’s not unsurprising; unsettling, yes. Tightly, he complains into the voicemail, “Matt, we just met the buyers for the Masserati, and surprise! It’s the guys we just ripped off. So, I’m calling to see what the hell you really knew about all this or if you’re just an idiot who didn’t research enough.”

When he hangs up, Danneel is staring at him and he shrugs in reply. She shakes her head, digs through her purse, then puts a twenty under the water glass. Jensen finds himself awash with far too many emotions to do more than say her name. 

“Don’t _Danneel_ , me. This is your fault.”

“Mine? How about Matt?” he argues. “You think he didn’t just set us up?”

“I think that if you had just followed the plan,” she spits out, “We wouldn’t be sitting in indentured servitude.” Suddenly she squirms in her seat and whimpers pitifully. “And I wouldn’t be covered in cooties from that guy.”

He sighs, wiping a hand down his face. “I can’t believe you agreed to do this. We had one rule, Danneel. No banks.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure not stealing cars was on the list, too.”

“Still. ‘No banks’ was pretty high.”

She shakes her head and gets up from the table. “Don’t look at me like that.”

He follows her out of the restaurant and sighs again. “I’m not looking at you like anything.”

“It’s that pitiful, crabby look you get when you know you’ve done something incredibly stupid and we all know it.”

Jensen pouts, refusing to admit she’s right. “You’re the stupid one agreeing to do this.”

Danneel walks quickly to the car with Jensen closely behind. “What other choice do we have? Be on the run for the rest of our lives from those two?”

He frowns because that is no way he wanted this job to go.

“Ugh, Pellegrino. I need a shower.” She stops and points a finger in his face. “And don’t think you’re joining me.” Then she swings that finger near her chest. “You’re blacklisted from this.”

“What?” he whines. “For how long?”

“As long I see fit.”

He groans. Not only are they in for a shitload of trouble with two very dangerous men, now his girlfriend is putting him in the doghouse. He’s so fucked. Or not, actually.

“Ms. Maxwell, your resume is quite impressive.”

Danneel pleasantly smiles and crosses her legs, well aware how the forty-something bank manager glances down to her bare legs. His eyes drive up to her thighs and the edge of her pencil skirt, and she drags her fingers over the bend of her knee. When he clears his throat and looks back to her face with warm eyes, she knows she’s got him hooked.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Evans.”

He adjusts his wire-rimmed glasses and touches his temple where his dark hair is fading to gray, as if he’s being casual about it all. “Please, call me Frank.” They share a smile and he flicks a corner of her mocked-up resume. “I see you spent twelve years at First National? So, Ms. Maxwell-”

“Please, Sara,” she insists.

Frank smiles and nods. “Of course, Sara … what made you leave First National?”

“Well,” she starts, pulling a sad face. “My mama got sick, so I moved closer to her. To be here for her. Her doctors’ bills are …” She clears her throat, blinks away the crocodile tears, and demurely shrugs. “You can imagine.”

Frank looks appropriately sympathetic for her as he frowns and nods. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“So, you can see that I’m kind of in a bind here. But I promise you that I’m a very hard worker, and I have years of experience handling money.”

“Yes, I can see all that here,” he kindly smiles while tapping her resume. “I suppose we could use someone to cover back of the house issues. I’ve been covering so far, but we could use another set of hands on the job. This includes counting out drawers, approving account changes and openings, and the safety deposit boxes. Your experience is mostly front of the bank, but do you think that would interest you?”

It’s an effort to keep her smile under control. She hadn’t pictured the interview to be so easy. “I think it would.”

“Good!” he responds happily. “We would be happy to have you.”

There’s a strange lift to his last sentence, but Danneel just chalks it up to her ability to play anyone, especially men. So she turns it right back to him with a coy look. “And I would be happy to be yours.”

He blinks, then awkwardly chuckles. “Yes, of course. When can you start?”

“Whenever you’ll have me.”

Frank clears his throat and stands, smoothing a hand over his tie. “How’s tomorrow? I can give you the tour now, have you meet a few folks, and we get you going in the morning.”

Danneel stands and reaches across the desk to shake his hand. “That sounds perfect.”

They wind around the building as he introduces her to some of the tellers, points out the necessary areas of back of the bank where she focuses more of her attention in regards to the safety deposit boxes and default keys, then brings her out front to a man who’s sitting in the lobby area. He’s tall and good looking with long legs in slim jeans and a long-sleeve shirt that molds to broad shoulders and an equally broad chest. It all makes him out to be more of a bored customer reading a magazine than who Frank says he is.

“And finally, Sara Maxwell, this is Jared, our security guard.”

Jared stands at attention and nods down at her while she drags her eyes up all six and a half feet of him. She immediately feels dwarfed, but it only lasts a second because she can handle this. She’s a professional, after all.

“Hi, Jared, nice to meet you,” she charms with a friendly smile and warm handshake. 

He assesses her, all while still shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you, as well.”

“You’re a big improvement from my last bank,” she teases. “Our security guard was an 80-year-old narcoleptic in a dusty uniform.”

Jared laughs tightly, as if he’s judging her no matter how cute she thinks she’s being. “I have a feeling we get a li’l more business here.”

“Yes,” Frank agrees easily. “Jared here is our new experiment. He’s obviously a bit … informal. So we’re hoping that he’ll not only be able to better read unsuspecting threats, but also keep the rest of our customers comfortable.”

Danneel turns a sweet look on him. “I am certain he will nail the second part.”

Jared makes an odd, considering noise and finally nods. “Yeah, I hope so.”

She bites the corner of her mouth, certain she’s beginning to reel him in as she drags their look out a bit longer then turns to Frank. “Well, I think it’s a great idea you’ve got here.”

“Oh, it’s all Jared,” Frank says. “He walked right in here and convinced me of it. We’re on week two and so far, so good.”

Sizing Jared up again, Danneel stores that knowledge away. He’s brand new and here to keep his eyes on everyone in the building. It’ll be necessary to keep him in the back of her mind while she works her magic. 

“Tall, dark, _and_ smart,” she easily flirts. “You’re really quite the package.”

Jared starts a slow smile and Danneel returns it, feeling good about this. It’s exactly why she’d insisted she come to the bank thank Jensen; she can wiggle her way into any tight spot. Besides, she likes the idea that he’s in time-out for getting them into this situation. 

“So,” Frank says, interrupting the moment. “If you have any questions about security or even the keys to the boxes, Jared has full authority to help. I, of course, will be your first contact, but if not … then you’ve got Jared.”

“Of course, Frank,” she replies easily. “You first.” Then she glances at Jared from underneath her eyelashes. “And then Jared.”

Frank rubs her shoulder. “I’m very excited you’re here, Sara.”

Danneel grins at them both. “I am, too.”

Jared’s eyes narrow briefly, but Danneel doesn’t worry. She’s got the job, access to the boxes, and the manager wrapped around her finger.

Back at the motel, Jensen clicks away at his laptop, scrolling through the database he was finally able to crack twenty minutes ago. It’d taken him most of the day to find the right contacts and then actually bust through the firewalls and security, but he can finally read the bank’s accounts.

The door swings open and closed with Danneel entering the room then tossing her suit jacket to the bed with a cynical look. 

Jensen leans back in his seat and spreads his arms out. “And how’d my girl do?” 

“Your girl’s got herself a job.”

“Well of course she does.” When she walks near the table, he snags her around the waist and pulls her close. She doesn’t come too willingly, but she doesn’t back away when she’s pressed against his side. It’s a tiny victory. “What’s your first impression?”

“The manager is a total sucker and just handed me rights to the keys. There’s a security guard, though.”

“Think he’ll be trouble?”

Danneel makes a thoughtful noise then points at the laptop. “What are you working on?”

“Here, take a closer look,” he insists and pulls her into his lap. She still doesn’t seem too happy about it, still has him on lockdown or whatever. He keeps an arm around her waist anyway and leans forward to move the mouse around. “I got into the account system and I’ve been combing for names and box numbers.”

She leans in to watch the screen. “And? Did you find anything?”

Jensen enters a series of commands until he can bring up the right page. “Our box belongs to a Melanie Sheppard.”

Danneel glances over her shoulder. “Sheppard?”

“They’re in the middle of a heated divorce and it looks like the Mrs. isn’t willing to split everything with the Mr.”

She seems impressed, and he squeezes his arm around her. Still, she asks, “How’d you get in?”

Jensen wiggles his fingers at her side. “With these babies.”

“Stop that,” she admonishes. “I mean, how’d you get the link to the system?”

“Richard got me-”

“Oh, God, Richard?”

Jensen shifts her enough so he can look at her from over her shoulder. “He’s the most reliable computer guy we got and-”

“Yeah, but it’s _Richard_. He’s shady as hell.”

“I don’t trust a lot of people right now.” Jensen runs his hand over her knee and squeezes. “I trust you, and I trust me. At least Richard does it without asking a whole lot of questions.”

She finally nods and settles a bit more comfortably in his lap. “Yeah, I guess. I just figured you’d ask Matt or something.”

“I’m not dealing with him right now.”

“You don’t know that he had anything to do with it.”

“And you don’t know that he didn’t.” After he huffs, he runs his hand up her side. “I still can’t get him on the phone. He sends messages back, but … I just, I’d rather take it safe for right now. Protect us both.”

“Okay.”

Jensen looks at her and she’s watching him with an odd expression, like she doesn’t trust him at the moment. “Hey,” he murmurs and leans closer to kiss her cheek. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get out of this.”

“Yeah.”

He offers her a small smile, but she still seems awkward and unsure. If anything, Danneel is the most confident woman he’s ever met, nothing like the worrier he’s facing now. To ease her up, he focuses back on her. “So how is the bank? What’s the story with the security guard?”

Danneel takes a deep breath. “Well, he’s new and is apparently second in command of the keys. I’m hoping to brush up to him so I get a little room to move around there.”

Jensen sets his chin to her shoulder and rubs her knee. He’s never happy to think of her getting close to others on the job, but he knows it’s needed. Especially on something this important. “Think it’ll be easy?”

She shrugs, but doesn’t totally disrupt him from resting against her. “It might take a bit more than a few flirty smiles.”

“He’s a security guard … how hard can it be?”

“I don’t know, you didn’t see his body.”

Heat runs up his spine, even though he knows she’s teasing him. He tugs her in even closer and wraps his hand around the meat of her thigh. “You gonna run off with the security guard?”

Danneel glances at him in warning; she’s still upset about this whole thing, he can tell. “Maybe.”

“You wouldn’t leave me,” he murmurs. 

“I’ve considered it.”

“Who would take care of you?” Jensen drops a soft kiss on her neck. “After fifteen years, no one could take care of you like I do.”

“That’s debatable.”

He runs his hand up her thigh, fingers stroking the inside of her leg. “No one knows you like I do. We’re one of a kind, you and me. There’s no one out there who works like we do.” He kisses higher up her neck and slides his fingers beneath her skirt, feeling bold when she doesn’t stop him, only lets her legs open a few inches. “No one loves you like I do. And I’ll never love someone like I do you.”

“You say that now,” she whispers, resting her head against his, mouths just an inch or so apart.

“I say that always.” And he does, tells and shows her many times over how much he wants her with him for all the madness their life holds. Danneel has great power over men with her sly smiles, warm eyes, and perfect body, but Jensen knows that not many can get to her like he does, like he always has.

Jensen smiles against her cheek when she moves one leg to the side and he can easily run his hand inside her skirt, and she whimpers once his fingers press against her silk panties. He strokes over the warm fabric as he breathes against her skin. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’d go crazy all alone, knowing you’re out there with someone else. I’m always going crazy when you’re working over another guy.”

Danneel finally responds as she brings her hand up to his cheek and says against his lips, “I’d never leave you, baby.” 

He kisses her and presses against her hard. “Neither would I.” When she closes her eyes on another kiss, he moves the fabric away from her pussy and strokes his fingers across her clit. She hums at that and he circles his fingers, making her moan and shift in his lap, and he can feel his own body begin to react. He’s been growing hard since he got his hand beneath her skirt and her tiny noises are getting him even harder with his heart thumping faster in his chest. 

“I’m sorry,” she says suddenly. “I was just mad, about the car, and you calling me stupid.”

“I’m sorry for all those things, too. You know I’d never screw us over. I’m trying to make things better.”

“I know,” she murmurs and rocks her hips against his hand.

Jensen pushes his fingers against her entrance and barely kisses her. “Am I forgiven now?”

“Maybe,” she whispers playfully.

“Are you going to let me back in?”

“I definitely want you in.”

Jensen smiles and sweeps her up to sit at the edge of the table. He yanks her skirt up and underwear down as she undoes his belt and jeans, pulling his dick out of his boxers. She strokes him to full hardness as he assaults her mouth, biting at her lips, licking far inside. He pulls off the kiss to catch his breath and is reminded that she’s here, ready and waiting, as she pumps her fist over his dick. Without hesitation, he grabs her hips and shoves himself inside her, moans at the heat and tightness of her pussy as he fucks into her. 

Danneel hangs on with her arms around his neck and rakes her nails across his skin as he rolls into her body and slides easily in her slickness. He pounds harder, trying to make up for their lost time, a long week of tension between them. She loses balance and leans back with one hand on the table, the other clutched tightly around his neck. Jensen slows his hips, but dips down and mouths at her nipple, tonguing over the bud and making her back arch even sharper away from him. 

“No, no, no, baby,” she insists as she pulls him up to her own mouth. “Don’t slow down, just fuck me.”

Jensen smiles and sets his hands to the table to jack into her quickly, make the table shake with each trust, answering her pleas when she pants _yes, yes, yes_. He reaches between them and thumbs her quick, going as fast as he’s fucking her, and she’s falling apart even as she grabs onto his neck in a death grip. 

“Come on, baby,” Jensen moans loudly. “Come for me. I wanna fuck you through it.”

“Oh God,” she shouts and begins to shake. He knows she’s done, and he’s just waiting for her to tremble all around him. “Fuck, Jensen! Oh! Yes, baby!”

She twitches and whimpers as he yanks her even closer, hands pressing her hips so tightly he’s sure she’ll have bruises. He feels her pussy pulse around him and he pumps his hips a few more time until his spine goes frigid. Heat slinks through his body and he shouts as he comes. 

Still holding her close, Jensen leans forward until his legs hit the table and he has something to keep him steady and mostly upright. Danneel is dragging her fingers through his hair and he hums into her neck. “I love makeup sex.”

Chuckling, Danneel weakly tries to push him away. “You love sex of any kind.”

Jensen leans back to kiss her. “With you?” Another kiss. “Definitely.” And another. “You should be proud of yourself.”

She wiggles a little, and he feels a quick _zing_ up his spine when he slides within her, still feeling how heated up she is. “I’d be prouder if you weren’t so easy.”

Now she’s stroking her hand over his cheek and into his hair, smoothing hair this way and that. He hums and goes with the movement. “There are worse things to be.”

“Mmmhmm. Like a assistant bank manager.” She takes a quick breath and shifts back further. “Speaking of, I gotta get my sugar daddy to buy me a new wardrobe.”

“Let’s get cleaned up, then we can eat and go shop.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she says easily, planting a wet kiss on his mouth.

“Good morning, Jared,” Danneel says as sweetly as possible when she enters the bank on her first day.

He’s sitting in the same arm chair as the day before, with the same magazine in his hands, and the same slow and cautious glance at her. “Good morning, Sara.”

“How are you today?”

“I’m okay. And you?” he asks in return, though it seems stilted.

She wonders if she’d imagined how he’d taken the time to check her over yesterday. Still, she knows this job will take some time, and if Jared does, too, so be it. “I’m great. Have a good day,” she offers with a playful wave then heads to the back area to start working.

It’s a standard bank day that doesn’t call for much beyond her sifting through paperwork and signing off on account changes such as names and beneficiaries. During the afternoon shift change, she double-checks cash drawers and tries to avoid the looks coworkers give her when she counts the bills even faster than they do. It may not be under the most legitimate of circumstances, but she’s been handling money for half her life, and says so with a toothy grin. “Money is in my blood.”

One of the tellers chuckles while another nods and thanks her for checking her drawer.

The next morning, it’s almost startling to see Jared in the same chair, sitting with the same leg crossed over the other, and that same _Time_ magazine in his grip. It makes her stutter to a stop, but she recovers quickly by giving him a warm look.

“Morning, Jared.”

“Morning, Sara,” he says without looking away from the open spread. It’s a story on the education system and lunch vouchers that makes Danneel frantically dig through her brain for a comment. He finally glances up, eyes narrowed. “Is there something you need?”

“Nope! Just checking what you’re reading,” she excuses away while flipping a finger at the magazine. “Smart man, well read, I bet you get your share of great dates.”

Jared licks the corner of his lip and his eyes drop to her waist then back up to her face. “Is this you offering?”

Danneel curls her shoulder in as she begins to turn, watching him from over her shoulder. “And what if I was?”

She leaves before he can answer, but she checks the lobby throughout the day and he’s almost always watching her. 

The next morning, Jared must hear the steady click of her heels, because he murmurs, “Hello, Sara,” before she can open her mouth.

He sends her a quick look, then goes back to that stupid _Time_ magazine again. She cocks her leg to the side and sets a hand on her hip. “You know, you’d probably be less obvious if you changed up your routine.”

Jared drops the magazine and watches her closely for a few, quiet moments. “Maybe I like reading?”

“The same magazine for four days?” 

“You’re awfully observant.”

She has to be in her line of work, but she doesn’t need him to know that. “I try,” she says with a minor bow.

“You succeed.”

Here, she gets a tiny thrill to see his impressed smile, and she wonders how much more it’ll take to hook him.

She tests it a few hours later when an elderly woman comes in to access her safety deposit box. It’s the first box Danneel’s had to deal with in the three days she’s been here. Frank had said she would be fine using Jared in his absence, and in the meantime, they’re waiting a few more weeks to clear her for access to the keys without assistance. 

So she summons Jared to unlock the drawer where the master keys are kept. He does it while crowding her personal space - not too close, but enough and with a smooth smile that tells her he’s meaning to do it. She not-so-subtly licks her lips when he stands up again and hands her the master set with Mrs. Hooples’ box key. 

“Thank you, Jared,” Danneel says, overly kind.

“You’re welcome, Sara,” he returns much the same way.

“Good news, bad news,” Danneel declares when she returns to the hotel room after her shift.

Jensen rolls on the bed to his side and watches her lean on the dresser while gracefully undoing her strappy heels then take out her earrings and her hair from the purposely messy bun at the nape of her neck. She’s talking about the safety deposit boxes, and it’s important, he knows it is. He really should be listening and not daydreaming about leading a straight life where she comes home from her office job and undresses by routine while he listens about her day.

She’s suddenly kneeling on the mattress, right next to him, and flicking his forehead. “Are you even listening?”

He decides to be completely honest. “You’re just really adorable as a worker bee.” He plucks a button on her silk blouse and drags his finger down the rest of them, then over the seam of her pencil skirt. “With the silky shirts and the cute li’l tight skirts.”

“Jensen,” she says firmly, closing her hand around his when he touches her bare knee. “I said that the keys are locked away and my only legitimate chance to get them free is to get the main one from the manager or the security guard.”

With the way Danneel’s eyes are soft and staring right into his, he doesn’t trust her plans for how she’ll do that. “And how will you do that?” he asks anyway, because he’s a glutton for punishment.

She makes an aborted shrug. It’s a _well, ya know_ kind of movement and he realizes he trusts _how_ she’ll do it; he just doesn’t _like_ that she has to. 

“What’s the story with the manager?”

“High end of his forties maybe, a little lame and awkward. And married, but definitely very interested in my legs.”

Jensen considers it and while it could be an easy mark, he’s not liking the image of her sleeping with the manager when there’s the potential for an angry wife added to the mix. They don’t need complications; their life is fucked up enough as it is. “What about the security guard?”

It’s not too obvious how she shifts and her face softens, but Jensen knows her better than anyone. “Early thirties, tall, muscular, flirty on occasion.”

“He’s good-looking,” he says more than asks. 

Still, she answers, “He’s not hard on the eyes.”

Jensen doesn’t really like this idea any better than the manager and flops to his back with a sigh. He can tell that Danneel wouldn’t mind cozying up to the security guard, that it would be only a minor inconvenience. It instantly makes Jensen’s lungs tighten up and his heart pump a little faster. He hates this part.

“I don’t like the security guard.”

Danneel snorts. “You don’t even know him.”

“I don’t know the manager either, but he’s sounding like a better candidate right now.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not getting wet at the idea,” Jensen complains.

She laughs derisively. “Of course I’m not. I don’t _want_ to sleep with either of them. But I might have to for the key.”

“Yeah, but you don’t sound too disappointed about the security guard.” He doesn’t mean to pout, but he knows he has and that Danneel is now sadly smiling at him for it. 

She slides down beside him, ringing her arm around his waist and setting her head on his shoulder. “Oh, baby, I promise I’ll think of you the whole time.”

Jensen rolls on top of her, loving how she instantly shifts beneath him so that their bodies rub together. “You said he was tall.”

Danneel slides her fingers into the opening of his henley, moving fabric to the side so she can kiss his collarbone. “Mmhmm.”

Her fingers are dragging across the dip in his neck, and he knows that she knows it’s his sweet spot. She’s trying to distract him, and he isn’t letting that happen. Well, only a little, as he manages to ask, “Is he taller than me?”

She sucks a mark over his pulse and lets go with a _smack_. “Only a little.”

It’s a war of his jealousy and disappointment versus the instant arousal of Danneel’s lips dragging along the column of his throat. “What’s he look like?”

They spend the next hour with Danneel sliding her hands and mouth along his body as she details what the security guard looks like in comparison to Jensen. He’s utterly distracted when she sucks his dick into the deep heat of her mouth, but he’s also ridiculously turned on when she talks about what she imagines the guy’s dick would look like. 

It’s the highlight of his day. Not only because it’s Danneel and everything is better with her, but because everything spins out of control late that night when Jensen takes a call on his cell phone with Sheppard on the other end.

“Jensen, my man, how are tricks?”

“They’re tricky,” he replies tightly as he slips out of the motel room so Danneel can keep sleeping. And more so that she doesn’t hear the conversation at all.

“Hmm, I would imagine. Seeing as it’s been far too long since we’ve last talked. Have you secured the paperwork yet?”

“Not yet,” he answers slowly.

“And why haven’t you secured the paperwork yet?” 

“Well, we’ve got something on-”

“Jensen,” Sheppard says curtly. “Need I remind you that you stole something very precious and very expensive from me? There are a hundred ways I could punish you for such a thing.” 

Jensen gulps, then scrubs the back of his head as he tries to come up with a good response.

“Stealing a few pieces of paper should be the easiest. One would think, yes?”

“We’re working on it.”

“Work _faster_ , or else my friend and I will be forced to step in,” Sheppard barks. Jensen’s about to insist that they will when Sheppard brightly says, “Very good then. Jensen, do say hello to your lovely gal for me.”

Jensen’s left staring at his phone and knows he has to tell Danneel to step it up at the bank.

Frank walks Danneel out from the back of the bank as the place is closing. He’s smiling and going on about how well she’s working out. She goes along with it, smiling broadly and nodding to his compliment, especially when he says she’s well past the grace period and they’ll start adding more responsibilities to her plate. Though she stalls for a moment when he suggests they celebrate with a drink tonight.

“Oh, I would love to, Frank,” she insists with a hand on his arm. “But I’m sure Margaret would be sad to not have you home to share her roast.” His eyes bug out and she wants to laugh at him; at lunch, she’d overheard him raving about it to their coworkers. “But some other time, I’m sure.”

Frank gives her an awkward smile. “Yes, surely, another time.”

She waves him off at the front door then finds Jared standing about ten feet away, watching her like he’s trying to figure something out. 

“Do you need something, Jared?”

He shakes his head and steps closer. “Naw, I don’t. Was just wondering a few things.”

Jared is close enough that Danneel has to tip her head up and she purposely, slightly, shifts her shoulders so her breasts are in better view along with her cleavage down the opening of her blouse. “Wondering what now?”

“When you’re gonna put Frank out of his misery. The man has it hard for you.”

Danneel chuckles and looks out the glass doors where Frank had gone. “I’m well aware how hard he has it.”

Jared’s eyes flick down to her chest and she mentally fist pumps. “So you’re just gonna torture him all this while?”

“I’m not that evil,” she says with a long look. “Frank’s nice and all, but he certainly isn’t the only guy around town.” Jared snorts and glances out the door as well. Danneel quickly grabs the chance staring her in the face and says, “Maybe _you_ could take me out for a celebratory drink.”

“What’re we celebrating? You surviving two weeks at a job? Sounds kinda light.”

She feels tension creep up her spine. After two weeks at the bank, Jared is still looking at her in all the right ways, and their flirting hasn’t slowed down. But his words now feel hard, and they’re confusing when juxtaposed with all of his long gazes and other comments. “How about an ‘I’m new to town and am finally making a friend in the security guard’ kind of drink?”

Jared seems interested in that, making a playful face. “Oh, we’re friends?”

“I know I’d like to be.” She lightly rubs over his arm then squeezes. “But I’m not gonna beg you. Have a good night, Jared.”

As she turns and pulls her arm away, his hand wraps around her wrist and tugs for attention. “Have you been to Otto’s yet?”

Her pulse kicks up and she’s not certain if it’s in finally winning him over or the warm feel of his hand around her wrist. Or even the intensity in his eyes. Jared must know how she’s reacting because he strokes fingers on her pulse point and smiles. “I haven’t,” she finally answers.

He releases her hand and steps around her to the door. “See you there in thirty?”

“Yes, sir,” she says with a saucy sort of salute. 

She’s vibrating with excitement and confidence on finally getting close to Jared, to those damn keys, and the stupid safety deposit boxes. 

Jensen, however, is not very happy when she rushes through the hotel to change from professional banker to bar girl. It’s obvious with the angle of his brow and the hard set in his gaze as she tugs up a pair of extremely tight jeans, fastens her skimpiest of bras, and slips on a flimsy black, silk camisole. 

It’s also obvious that her outfit is turning him on. As she finger-combs her wavy hair, Jensen steps up behind her and sets his hands on her hips, which are easily bared with every movement of her shirt. “Do you really have to go?” he asks against her shoulder. 

She glances at him in the mirror and lightly shakes her head. “Do you really want the papers in the box?”

“Just drinks?”

Danneel turns in his arms and rings hers around his neck, pushing her body against him and making him hum and tightly pull her closer. “No promises,” she says firmly then kisses him. 

A long while ago, Jensen had reluctantly said that to her when she was not looking forward to him seducing a fifty-something widower to get to an original piece of art that gave them one of their first large paydays. Since then, they’ve repeated it to one another, because so much of their life is improvising.

He’s not entirely satisfied, but accepts it with a quick kiss. “Just keep me in the loop.”

And she does, sending him a text when she arrives and another after two hours when she’s beginning to feel loose and like she’ll have Jared wrapped around her finger in no time. 

Next to her at the bar, Jared’s relaxed in a tight v-neck shirt that looks more designer than something out of a pack of three undershirts at the local catch-all department store. His jeans and boots also say a lot for the effort he’s putting in tonight. Shit, his easy smiles and long looks across her face and body have said more than enough. 

“I’m really glad we did this,” Danneel says warmly, leaning in to run her fingers across his forearm. 

“Is your boyfriend glad we did?”

She pauses for only a moment before biting her lower lip, drawing Jared’s attention to her mouth. “What boyfriend?”

“The guy you stay at the motel with?”

Danneel pokes his forearm with her index finger. “You, Jared, are awfully observant.”

“It’s part of the job.”

“And you’re _so_ good at it,” she flirts, before insisting, “He’s just a friend. I am a free woman, only looking at you tonight.”

Jared considers her, taking his time as she keeps watching right back. 

“You want a shot?” Danneel asks with a bright smile, turning towards the bartender working down the bar. “I want a shot.” 

They’ve already had a few drinks – and Jared a shot of whiskey – to start the night. She’s certain that at his size, he’s more than capable of handling his liquor, and she knows it’ll take another few to wear him down. 

It does, but the drinks make her loose as well. After he takes two more shots and another beer and she asks if he wants another one, he shakes his head and moves in close. His arm rests on the back of her stool, the other at her knee. She’s surprised yet satisfied, because for all their flirting, he’d been keeping some distance, and now there’s none between them as he talks so closely that they’re sharing the same air.

“I think, what I really want is to stop drinking, and stop thinking.”

Danneel goes warm at the heat in his voice, his closeness, and most of all at finally breaking him down. She rests her hand over his at her knee, fingers coasting the side of his thumb. “What did you have in mind?”

“Like you don’t already have a plan?”

She laughs; she so did, yet it sounds foolish to hear him say so. Still, she forges on, leaning impossibly closer. “Maybe we can go somewhere to stop drinking and thinking together.”

Minutes later, they’ve settled the bill and are each in their cars with Danneel following Jared to his place. On the way, she texts Jensen _99_ , their signal that they’re going to a target’s home, and gets a quick _be safe_ in reply. She feels a pang of guilt, but she knows it’s part of the game, and all else goes out the window once she’s inside Jared’s near-empty apartment. It’s not decorated, just has a couch, chair, and TV in the living room, but that doesn’t really matter because as she’s trying to pay him a compliment for the minimalism, he pulls her against his body and kisses her. It’s shocking when he kisses hard and fierce, like he needs her right now, no questions asked. 

Her blood is on fire with the intensity, and it’s worse when he runs his hands down her back, over her ass, and to her thighs then tugs her up into his arms with her legs wrapping around his waist. Or maybe it’s better, this ferocious power to just take her right to his bedroom and set her down on the bed is mesmerizing. 

Danneel knows she’s flushed all over, can feel heat spreading everywhere, most of all between her legs as she can’t wait for him to get his hands on her. That should be troubling, and it is a bit, she begins to realize. For fifteen years, no one has fired her up like Jensen does, but Jared is doing a damned good job now with his wide palms running up her legs, over her hips, and under her shirt to push it up as he lays down between her legs and nuzzles her belly. His mouth travels up and he sucks at her nipple through the thin lace of her bra. 

She arches up against him with a moan and threads her fingers through his hair. She tugs on the hair and moans louder when he moves to the other breast and presses his hips into her. He takes his time to lick her nipple to full hardness then lightly bite it, only to flick his tongue over it again and again. She can’t stop moaning and pushing up against him while pressing his face down to her.

He’s hard, very hard in the soft denim of his jeans, and she’s getting wet, she just knows it. She can’t slow herself down as she sits up and yanks his shirt off to turn attention on him. She kisses across his chest, licks at his nipples, too, and then tugs at his belt to bring him back down on her. 

“What do you want, Jared?” she asks, voice low and dark.

He looks down her body and sucks at her collarbone. “Want your body, wanna just take you.”

She chuckles and runs her hands over his shoulders as he presses his hips into her again. “And I want you to.”

“Been watching you for weeks, and you’re such a tease, Jesus.”

Danneel brings her hand down between them to palm his dick through his jeans. “I’m not teasing now, Jared.”

It’s like flipping a switch, because suddenly, he’s ravenous in the way he’s undressing her, yanking her jeans and shoes off, the bra and underwear away, kissing all of her newly bare skin as he goes. He undresses quickly, too, then settles between her legs and kisses down her belly until he’s licking up her clit and sucking. Danneel twists in a fit on the bed as he mouths at her pussy and pushes his tongue inside her, and she’s shaking with how good it feels. She’s not faking, like all the other times she’s in this position with a target. Jared is making her tremble from head to toe as he sucks at her clit and reaches up to play with her nipple. 

Jared pulls her hips up for a better angle and gets right back into it, flattening his tongue against her pussy, stroking her clit. She can’t stop all the crazed noises coming out of her chest and throat, cut-off howls and shrieks, but he’s taking it all and giving it to her at the same time. 

Before she can stop it, her orgasm is coming and she groans through the pulsing of her pussy, even as Jared keeps licking her until she whines and pushes him away. 

Breathing heavily, she feels completely boneless and is sure she can’t move. Jared must sense it because he rests back on the bed and pulls her with him, rolling until she’s on top. She lies against his chest, slowly kissing him, and he swiftly gets a condom on and pushes into her. She tenses with the sudden realization that he is inside her and his dick is really, really big. When she whimpers, he smirks.

“You still with me?” he asks.

Danneel rises with her hands on either side of his head and her hair flowing down between them. He pushes it over her shoulder and holds her neck, his other hand on her hip. She bites her lower lip, logging how his eyes glaze over and he licks his own lips. A smiles and a nod, and she clenches around him. “Give it to me.”

Jared guides her by the hand on her hip as he withdraws then pushes back into her. He sets a steady pace, punching the air out of her lungs in tiny whimpers.

She feels completely full each time he slides in. She’s so slick and he’s hitting her so hard that she moans every time he does. He gets faster, tugging her hips down, shoving his up with his feet planted on the bed, and Danneel digs her fingers into the sheets and gladly takes it, muttering nonsense that sounds painful to her own ears. It is a little bit, but she can’t deny it’s exhilarating to be rightly fucked. Especially after years and years of Jensen, who knows all the tricks, and maybe sometimes it seems too easy between them, knowing all their hot spots and going for them immediately. Jared is not easy; he is working hard at earning a second orgasm, and that’s good in Danneel’s book. 

She rides the resurgence of lust as he fucks her hard and fast. The noises of him sliding easily in and out of her is obscene, but it only reminds her of how hard he made her came earlier. Makes it known how wet and hot he makes her. She gladly lets him pound into her as he grunts and groans, and keeps watching his face twist with pleasure.

Jared’s rhythm begins to falter and Danneel can feel her orgasm creeping up again. “C’mon, fuck me,” Danneel pants. “Fuck me, Jared.”

“You gonna come?” He smiles and grips her hips harder. “I’m gonna make you come again?”

She moans and drops her head as he speeds up again. “God yes, you’re so fucking big, so hard.”

He quickens at her words, and she takes it with breathy whining as she comes and shakes. He continues to fuck her until he’s pulling her down tightly and coming as well. 

Danneel drops down on Jared and he strokes his hands up her back, happily sighing. She smiles against his neck before rolling to the side while he moves off the bed and hits the bathroom, the door only partly open.

His absence gives her chance to hunt around for his work keys. First, she checks the key ring in his jeans, but it’s just car and apartment keys. Next, she slides things around the top of the room’s lone dresser. There are crumpled receipts, random slips of paper, gum wrappers, and plenty of other crap that aren’t the keys. She checks the dresser drawers, shuffling clothes around, until she hears the bathroom sink running and she figures he’s done and about to show up again. 

She slips back into bed and when he returns with his eyes still dark and wanting, she seductively stretches, legs sliding together and arms above her head. He leans over her then rubs his lips along her collarbone. His hand runs over her hip and lower until he can reach between her legs. His fingers slide in her wetness, easily going back and forth, and he looks at her with a glint in his eyes.

“You up for a third round?”

Her nerves feel raw, but dammit, her legs are already widening and her pulse beats hard through her body, right into her pussy. She licks her lips and he kisses her hard, tongue searching deep into her mouth. When he lets up and allows her to control the kiss, she mumbles against his mouth, “Can’t hurt to try.”

Woken from a hard sleep, Jensen is aware of Danneel coming back into the hotel room. He’s fuzzy about it, but he knows she's gone straight to the bathroom, so he settles back under the comforter, waiting for her to come to bed before he asks how it’d gone.

The shower starts and he now knows how it went. Danneel and the security guard definitely had sex, and now she’s in there cleaning it off her skin. His mouth suddenly tastes sour, bile rising in the back of his throat. He rolls out of bed and rushes into the bathroom because he’s certain he’s about to empty his stomach. He doesn’t, but he does scare her with his quick entry. He smiles a little at that.

“Jesus, Jensen!” she shrieks. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was,” he mumbles. He quickly fills a glass with water and gulps to wash away the bitterness on his tongue. He leans back on the counter and stares at the shower curtain, even if the thick, cream fabric doesn’t let him see much of her. She’s just a cloudy mass moving around. “So, it went okay?” he manages to ask quite levelly.

“It was fine.”

After a rough swallow, Jensen dares to ask, “Did you?”

She pauses then says, “Yes, we did.”

“And how was it?”

“Average.”

There’s a strange sense of being satisfied she’s said so, but also wondering if it really was. He decides to get back to what’s gotten them here in the first place: “Did you get the key?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“It wasn’t there?”

“I don’t know,” she complains. “I tried looking but my snooping was only cute for a few minutes, then he thought I was just deranged.”

Jensen snorts. “You are deranged.”

“Jared doesn’t have to know that.” The water stops and she slips a hand around the shower curtain, fingers grabbing thin air. “Can you hand me a towel?”

He’s still half asleep, useless and groggy before coffee, especially when woken at four in the morning. It takes him a few seconds to move, but once he’s got the towel in his hands, he clenches the terry cloth and thinks. _Jared_. They’re on a first name basis.

“Jensen,” she insists, fingers wiggling again.

Jensen grabs the curtain and slowly pulls it back so he can look at her. “You called him by his first name.” She looks guilty, but that’s not the real issue now. Her skin is littered with fresh bite marks and Jesus, her nipples are extremely red like someone latched onto them for hours on end. Jensen feels a fire flare in his gut. “Oh, yeah,” he says sharply. “Looks like a real average time.”

Danneel scowls, snaps the towel from his hands, and wraps it around her body, covering up most of the marks. “Stop.”

He watches as she moves to the bathroom counter, twists her hair up into a messy, wet bun, and coats her skin in that fancy lotion that smells like cherries and vanilla all at once. He catalogs the few marks he can still see outside of the towel: on the side of her neck, across her collarbone, just behind her ear.

“Did he hurt you?”

Immediately, her eyes meet his in the mirror and she looks mortified that he asked. “No, he didn’t.”

“It looks like he might have.”

“He didn’t.”

He’s so petty and bitter right now, and he knows it, but he still can’t help the rapid-fire questions like a petulant ten year old, oddly thankful that she responds just as quickly. “So you liked it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well, did you?”

“No, it was just part of the job,” she says with a roll of her eyes.

“What kind of job?”

“What?”

“Like a hand job? Or a blow job?”

“No,” she sighs.

“Neither?”

She makes a face and rolls her eyes, again, turning back to the mirror. “My hand may have touched his dick, yes.”

“How many orgasms did you have?”

“Three.”

“Oh, my _God_ ,” he shouts, and she instantly cringes. “ _Three_? In one night?”

“Jensen,” she pleads. Even wraps her arms around his waist with a pitiful frown, and he lets her because, shit, it’s Danneel and he’s loved her most of his life. “You didn’t hear me complain when you had that threesome with the Delaney brothers.”

“You did complain,” he reminds her. Because she had whined her way through breakfast that next morning.

“Well, not much.”

“You were pissed that I didn’t invite you along.”

“Of course I was,” she admits with a groan. “Two hot guys and my even hotter boyfriend? I wanted to watch you.”

Jensen mutters, “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.” 

“No, I’m not.” She shuffles even closer and nips his bottom lip. “You’re very hot when you’re turned on and taking it in the ass.”

With a flashback to that night, along with Danneel’s’ words, he does feel a little better; the shift in focus helps, as does the reminder that they both do sketchy things to get through a job. His night with the Delaney brothers had been pretty stellar for sex that didn’t involve Danneel. So maybe he can chalk up her night with the security guard the same way. 

“He really gave you three orgasms?” Jensen whines anyway.

“Stop being jealous.” And with that she pushes him aside and goes back into the main room, tugging on sleep clothes and getting into bed.

He joins her and she immediately sidles up next to him, head on his shoulder and hand on his chest. Jensen holds her hand and squeezes lightly when she kisses his jaw. 

“We didn’t cuddle,” she mumbles. “If that helps.”

“A little.”

“I only cuddle my man,” she insists, wrapping her arm tightly around his waist. “No need to be jealous.”

Jensen frowns at himself and figures it’d be good to listen to her, to trust her to get the job done, but as he lies awake, he’s unable to stop his mind from flipping over any possible visual of Danneel and Jared he can create. 

It’s no better when Danneel’s off to work, dropping a kiss on the top of his head while he sips coffee at the dinette table and they both pretend the early morning hours didn’t happen. It’s kind of their thing, and it’s always worked just fine, but Jensen can feel his jealousy gnawing at him. 

His nervous energy gets him away from the hotel for the day. He roams town and checks out a local BBQ joint that doesn’t do Texas justice, but he’s learned to be disappointed when far from home. There are a few hours wasted at driving range, striking little white balls as far as he can, burning his anger with every swing. And then a stop at a trendy Western bar to wind down. 

Halfway into his second beer, his phone rings with a number he really wishes he didn’t recognize. “Yes, sir?” he answers sarcastically. 

“Jensen, my boy!” Sheppard crows. Sadly, his calls have been more frequent as more time has passed. “Are things swimming yet? Or are you ready to sink?”

“We’re getting there.”

“Get there _faster_.”

Jensen sighs. He’s rather tired of the nagging. “We’ll get there when we get there.”

“Jensen,” Sheppard says slowly, menacingly. “If you don’t get there quite soon, you’ll have my dogs to answer to.”

“What? Like a shitzu? Terrier?”

Sheppard grits out, “Get it done. Or else.”

With that, the call is over. 

Jensen knows he should head back to the hotel; Danneel’s shift is over and she’ll be there soon and they have to talk this through, get a faster game plan into place. He’ll finish off this last beer then return to his girl, see what her follow-up is for getting the keys, if it’ll take a few more dates with Jared to get them or what.

With his phone to his ear, he’s listening to monotonous ringing before she picks up. A rather tall, wide-shouldered man sits down a few stools away and gives Jensen an odd look that Jensen shakes off. Except then the bartender is now calling the man _Jared_ , asking him how his date was last night, and Jensen … he loses all manner of words when Danneel picks up.

“Hey, baby,” she says warmly. When Jensen doesn’t answer, just keeps staring at this man who is the one that marked his girlfriend up and gave her _three_ orgasms, Danneel prompts him. “Baby? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he finally says.

“You sure? You sound funny.”

Jensen shifts so he’s not obviously staring at Jared, because the man seems to have picked up on it and is watching Jensen right back. “Uh, yeah, sweetheart, I’m fine.”

“Where are you at? I just got back to the room.”

He can _not_ tell her where he is, because he knows she’ll offer to meet him for a drink and dinner, and that is not going to happen with Jared here as well. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to leave. He wants to hang out and wait for Jared to head home, follow the guy back to his place, and scope it out. Maybe Jensen can get his hands on those keys while Jared’s at work or when Danneel meets Jared out for another date.

His mind is spinning so fast with possibilities that he misses her calling his name repeatedly until she snaps, “You’re _worrying_ me.”

“I’m fine,” he insists, trying for warm and easy. “I’m perfectly good. Just stopped off for some errands. Any luck with the boxes today?”

She tsks, sounding madder at herself than anything. “No, they actually had me doing _work_. Like copying and shit. It was boring.”

Jensen chuckles. “Welcome to the real world, sweetheart.”

There’s shuffling on the other end. She’s probably undressing and that is something Jensen is definitely interested in. “You wanna bring dinner home for us?”

There’s no easy answer. Either way, he can’t tell Danneel that his whole day started because he’s jealous of Jared. Who is again staring at Jensen. “I might be a little longer. You go ahead and eat without me.”

“If you’re sure?”

“I am.”

“What kind of errands?” she asks.

He knows she’s just curious, can tell in her tone of voice, but he still fights for a good enough lie. “Just tying up some loose strings for Matt.”

“You finally talked to Matt?”

Jensen cringes. Bad choice of lies. They haven’t heard Matt’s voice since he last set them up to hock the Maserati; it’s been all missed calls, texts, and emails since then. “ _About_ Matt,” he corrects. “I’m just checking a few things.”

She seems interested in that, asking, “Oh, did you find anything?”

“Not yet, but I’ve got a lead.” Jensen’s going to ignore how he’s staring at Jared again, turning green at the visual of this tall, muscular, ridiculously good-looking guy getting his girlfriend to come three times in a night. 

He’s also going to ignore how he’s already reducing Jared to the _fuckable_ portion of his brain. Maybe Jared is a wizard who commands people’s hormones.

Jared’s face flickers with a quick, daring smirk before he wraps his thin lips around the lip of his beer bottle. It’s like Jared can read his mind when he tips his head back and swallows. Jared’s throat is on display with his muscles working through the beer, and Jensen knows his dick is paying attention. 

Jensen looks down at the bar top and lightly knocks a fist against his forehead to stop thinking like this. He’s not attracted to Jared, dammit. He’s fucking _jealous_ that Jared fucked Danneel three times in the span of a few hours. 

“Jensen?” Danneel asks, and he snaps himself out of the delirious thinking.

“Yeah, sorry. A little distracted. Gotta get my head back in the game.” He laughs uncomfortably and hopes she doesn’t pick up on that. “So I’mma let you go for now, baby. Don’t wait up for me.”

He hangs up quickly and orders another bar, chugging a third of it before he takes a long moment to breathe deeply, calmly. His phone beeps and it’s Danneel texting him.

_You’re the deranged one._

Jensen smiles at the message, imagining the teasing look she’s likely giving her own phone. _Learned from the best_ he replies. 

As he finishes his beer, he’s well aware that Jared keeps glancing over, but the guy is also conversing with the bartender, hands just as animated as his smooth, tan face.

Jensen hates himself right now, that’s for sure. Especially when he’s done with his beer and knows he should leave to just put an end to it all, but is actually drawn by Jared settling his bill and heading out the door. 

He lets a few moments pass then heads out to his own car and, with some distance between them, he follows Jared back to a four-story, red brick, walk-up apartment building in the middle of the suburb’s downtown. He waits until Jared’s already inside and casually takes the sidewalk to the front door then quietly slips inside. He looks around the lobby, at the mailboxes, and up the stairs as he keeps his ears open to how many flights of stairs Jared takes.

It’s just one; Jared lives on the second floor, and Jensen can even tell he’s the second door on the right judging by how far his booted footsteps go. 

The rest of the evening is uneventful and he acts like everything is ordinary and right in the world when Danneel asks what he’s been up to all day. He will never tell her that he’d spent the day stewing in jealousy, that he came eye-to-eye with Jared at the bar, or that he followed Jared to his apartment. He’s got a plan that she doesn’t need to know just yet. 

He’s a good planner, sets up most of their jobs, so there’s no real worry about picking the lock into Jared’s apartment the next day. Jared and Danneel are gone all day at work this Saturday, and Jensen’s standing in the middle of Jared’s empty apartment. Well, there are a few pieces of furniture, but otherwise, it’s really bare, and Jensen gets an odd feeling from it. 

It doesn’t take him long to search through the drawers (filled with neatly folded shirts, jeans, and underwear), the kitchen (with the plainest white dishes Jensen’s ever seen), or even the bathroom (stocked with travel size items from various hotels). 

The bed looks pretty generic, except Jensen starts to see red as he thinks about Danneel in it. _No_ he snaps at himself; he has a real point in being here. Find something incriminating, something juicy enough that Danneel can blackmail him into turning the keys over for.

Jensen keeps on searching, uncovering a dozen fast food receipts, another dozen slips of paper with names and numbers (female _and_ male), and a gun in the top drawer of the nightstand.

“Whoa,” Jensen mutters as he reaches into the drawer and pulls the gun out. He weighs it in his hand, considers the grip of the pistol. Jensen and Danneel own a few guns for protection, but they’ve managed this long to avoid using them with any real harm. They’re mostly just for show. 

Maybe Jared has it for the same reason, to protect his home and his belongings. Then Jensen glances around and realizes Jared doesn’t really _have belongings_. Another glance at the nightstand shows Jensen that there’s another holster that’s empty, and beneath that is a picture of Danneel sitting at an outdoor cafe. 

By the looks of the place and her clothing, it’s the morning Sheppard and Pellegrino had ambushed them into this job. Jensen’s bad feeling gets even worse when he thinks about them targeting Danneel.

So Jared is Sheppard’s watchdog sent here to keep an eye on them and make sure they get the papers? Or maybe even to make sure they don’t, given how hard it’s been for Danneel to get a finger on the key ring even when she legitimately needs them at work. 

He needs to stop this, cut Jared off at the knees, grab the keys, and keep him away from Danneel so she can just do her thing.

And now Jared is returning home, heard from the front walkway as he offers a friendly hello to a guy who must be the building’s maintenance man, currently fixing one of the decorative lamps along the sidewalk. Jensen rushes to the bedroom window and looks down to see Jared moving closer to the front door. Jared chuckles at something the maintenance man says then gets inside before Jensen can blink.

Jensen checks his watch and curses himself; it’s nearly three and the bank closes early on Saturdays.

“Fucking shit,” he mutters as he slams the nightstand drawer shut then makes an aborted move out of the bedroom. He rushes back to put the gun back into the drawer, right anything else that is out of place, even goes so far as to mess up all the papers on the nearby dresser than Jensen had previously sorted through, then hurries out of the apartment.

He takes a deep breath and turns, assuring himself he’s okay, and four steps later he comes face to face with Jared. 

“Hi, sorry!” Jensen insists as he puts his hands up and they land on Jared’s chest. His firm, warm chest. Jensen immediately pulls his hands away with an awkward smile. “Sorry about that.”

Jared smirks, unfazed by the run-in. Amused, really. “Can I help you?” 

Jensen quickly fishes a name from his memory of the mailboxes downstairs. “I was just looking for Ms. Lee.” He points behind himself, one door down from Jared, and frowns. “I guess she’s not there.”

“Yeah, I’d say you’re probably right.” Jared is still looking at Jensen like he’s entertained by this whole charade. It’s disarming, really, especially when Jared shifts and points from where he came. “Especially since she lives down there.”

With a quick chuckle, Jensen smacks his forehead. “You are so right! I got all turned around when I got up here. Thank you, thank you very much.” 

Jared gives him a dark look, bordering on suspicious and _interested_. He was shooting Jensen similar glances at the bar, and that’s something to remember. “You sure that’s why you’re here?”

Biting his lower lip, Jensen decides to just turn it on. He’s got to get Jared off his own plan with Danneel, keep her off his mind, and what better way than the Ackles charm? “Actually, I saw you at the bar last night.”

“Is that so?”

“And I know you saw me.”

Jared checks Jensen from head to toe and back up again. “Are you following me?”

With a heated look, Jensen insists, “I just couldn’t help myself.”

Another long, assessing look, and Jared puts his hand out with a sharp smile. “I’m Jared.”

“Dean. Dean Winchester,” Jensen replies and forces the handshake a bit longer than it needs to. When Jared’s hand slows and he seems startled for a moment, Jensen rubs his thumb along the back of Jared’s hand. He moves it across the knuckles and nods thoughtfully. “You’ve got good hands.”

“Thanks, Dean.” 

Jensen shrugs, getting cocky to reel him in. “But I’m sure you hear compliments like that all the time.”

“Not all the time,” Jared laughs. 

“Nonsense!” Jensen reaches for Jared’s bicep, feeling for the muscles as he hums. And shit, even if he weren’t playing it up, he’d likely hum anyway, because Jared’s arms are hard and ripped. “Hot guy like you with guns like these? Gotta have girls all over you.”

Jared flexes his arm and Jensen knows they’re really getting somewhere when Jared says, “And some guys.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

Jared’s eyebrows flicker up in question and Jensen smirks at him, hopes his own lifted eyebrow convinces him enough. “You wanna come in for a drink?”

He knows for certain there is not an ounce of liquid in that place other than tap water. Still, he’s the one in control, and he can’t maintain control if he walks away right now. “I would love that.”

Once inside, Jared heads straight to the kitchen with Jensen following. He cracks a joke about just moving in a few weeks ago. “I don’t have the place set up yet, pardon the mess,” he requests with a playful smile.

He’s feeding Jensen some story about moving from Texas, looking for a new start, and finding himself walking up and down all the downtown streets until someone took him in. Jensen’s only half paying attention at first; when Jared turns to the freezer for a bottle of whiskey, he texts Danneel _99_ and only cringes for a second when she replies _With who?!_

The phone is back in his pocket by the time Jared turns around with two short tumblers half-full with liquor. They tip the glasses together and as Jared sips carefully, Jensen shoots half of it back, swallowing then purposely making a show of licking his lips. 

“Mr. Winchester,” Jared says lightly. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

Jensen puts his glass down on the counter and looks right into Jared’s eyes. “Why, Jared, would you like me to seduce you?”

Jared’s mouth drops open like he’s considering his reply, but Jensen doesn’t give him a chance. He grabs the middle of Jared’s shirt, cotton balling in his tight fist, and hauls him in to kiss him. In seconds, he’s plunging his tongue into Jared’s mouth, twirling their tongues together, swallowing his moans, and then pushing up against him and right into the counter. Jared makes a needy noise and Jensen has no plans to stop now; he’s getting hard himself, anyway, and he’ll take what he can from Jared. 

With quick hands, Jared touches Jensen’s sides, his back, his shoulders then grabs Jensen’s ass to keep their bodies together real tight. Jensen finds himself moaning into Jared’s mouth just as much now with their groins pressed together, with Jared’s big hands all over his ass and fingers grabbing roughly to rub their dicks against one another.

Jensen shifts back and palms Jared’s dick, massages him through denim and grinds against Jared’s leg while he’s at it, just to show him how turned on he is. 

“Mmm, maybe we should …” Jared murmurs between kisses, all breathy and messed up.

Jensen shushes him with a finger on his lips. He winks then sinks to his knees and flips Jared’s belt and jeans open. He pulls Jared’s dick out, letting it weigh his palm down with the thickness of it. Jensen tugs experimentally a few times and precome dribbles out. His mouth waters and he gets dizzy with the heated smell of Jared’s scent, more so when he licks the head of Jared’s dick and lets the precome soak his taste buds. Propelled by Jared’s strangled voice begging for more, Jensen takes him into his mouth and hollows out his cheeks as he slides his lips down the shaft until he’s full.

It’s been awhile since he’s done this, but it’s not like he doesn’t remember. He’d fucked the Delaney brothers for hours, trading blow jobs over and over, smiling whenever one of them thumbed at his slick, full lips. He’d enjoyed every second of it, and he’s certain he’ll enjoy this just as much, if not more. 

Jensen goes on sucking Jared down as far as he can go, letting Jared’s dick bump the opening to this throat, and licking his way right back up to the tip. He tongues at a vein on the underside, around the head, and laves all across the shaft before swallowing Jared back down again, and again, and again.

Suddenly, Jared’s hands are fitful over Jensen’s head until he grabs the longest pieces on top and yanks Jensen off. Jensen looks up, purposely biting his spit-slick lips, and squeezes Jared’s thighs. Then he smiles because Jared’s cheeks are beet red. Jared looks wrecked and lazy eyed, heaving for air. 

“C’mere,” Jared mutters and hauls Jensen back up to his feet. As they fight through a hard kiss, Jared leads them to the bedroom, but Jensen can’t do that, not with the knowledge that Jared took Danneel to that bed. Jensen fights him towards the living room, and it becomes playful as they yank and tug at clothes, trying to undress and move in their own directions while taking over each other’s mouths. 

Finally, Jared shoves Jensen into the living room. As Jensen stumbles, he bends over the arm of the couch and Jared is draped over his back in seconds. His hands roam Jensen’s chest and he kisses up Jensen’s spine while rutting against Jensen’s ass. 

Jensen arches up with a groan, gets his hands on the arm and back of the couch and widens his legs to keep his balance while rocking back against Jared’s body

“Wanna fuck you,” he whispers in Jensen’s ear. 

“Gonna do it good?” Jensen challenges.

“You’re gonna hurt tomorrow,” he hisses. Then he nearly tears Jensen’s jeans open and down with his underwear before licking his thumb and pushing it up against Jensen’s asshole.

“I will if you don’t lube it up.”

Jared chuckles darkly then tugs Jensen’s earlobe into his mouth, sucking hard enough to distract Jensen from the thumb now planted inside. “You don’t like that?”

Jensen curses at the tease in Jared’s voice, because shit, if this is how he played with Danneel, now he sees how she came three times. He’s ready to come just from an immobile thumb in his ass and the heated voice in his ear.

“I’d really like to feel you all slick inside me,” Jensen says with a quick glance over his shoulder. 

Jared slowly smiles, as if that’s the best thing he’s ever heard. Maybe it is; Jared smacks his ass as he pulls his thumb out then goes into the bedroom, returning with lube and a condom. All the while, Jensen has watched how Jared moves without care for his dick loose from his pants, that long shaft bouncing and taunting Jensen.

It’s gonna hurt, Jensen knows it will, but he forgets that when Jared helps Jensen out of his jeans, slips a lubed finger inside, and brings his other hand around to slowly stroke Jensen. Jared’s hand fully surrounds Jensen’s dick, expertly twists up and down, and Jensen’s skin tingles. 

Jensen can only keep himself balanced by the hard press of Jared’s fingers inside, a quick second finger now joining the first and stretching him out. “Oh, fuck, you have _really_ good hands,” he pants out. 

Jared licks up the column of Jensen’s throat then bites at his ear again. “I’ve heard that before, once or twice. But then they usually decide my cock is better.”

Closing his eyes, Jensen works on getting his control back, because otherwise he’s ready to drop himself to the couch like a ragdoll and let Jared show him just how much better his cock is. Dammit, he’s supposed to be the one seducing Jared, not bending over and letting Jared use him.

Except, Jensen kind of forgets that the second Jared is slicked up and nudging his dick against Jensen’s hole. Jensen’s common sense is completely gone once Jared is bottomed out, filling Jensen entirely, and making tiny circles with his hips as he waits for Jensen to adjust. 

Jared gropes Jensen’s chest, pulls him flush to his chest, and mouths along Jensen’s shoulder and neck, still rocking ever so carefully. “You feel so fucking good,” he mumbles.

Jensen clenches around him, smiling when Jared groans deep in his chest. “So do you, cowboy.”

Following a throaty chuckle, Jared pulls back a few inches then slides right back in. Jensen grunts each time Jared slides in, pants out short little breaths when Jared gets faster. He listens when Jared tells him to lean forward, trembles when Jared runs his hands over Jensen’s back, and repeatedly curses when Jared really gives it to him. 

Their skin slaps together, hips to ass. They both pant out curses and directives as Jared fucks him, pounds quickly before he suddenly slows down and thrusts deeper, even harder than before, like he’s trying to make it count. 

“Yeah, give it to me,” Jensen whimpers. And Jared does, which just forces Jensen to push back onto Jared’s dick, keeping the rhythm. But then he’s unbalanced when Jared hooks his arm under Jensen’s knee and manhandles him to the side. He holds Jensen’s leg up, keeps him wide open, and fucks deeper than Jensen had thought possible.

“You like that?” Jared mutters. “You want it just like that?”

Jensen puts his hand up to the wall, the other to the back of the couch, and just takes it because it’s really fucking good. “Fuck, yeah, keep going.”

“I could do this all day long.”

Jensen clenches his eyes shut and suddenly thinks of Jared fucking Danneel all night long. He imagines her clutching at Jared, clawing and scrambling as he fucks her as ruthlessly as he’s doing Jensen right now. Twenty-four hours ago, it made him see red, but now, his vision’s going hazy around the edges, too turned on to see straight. And ain’t that the shit of it? He’s always considered himself a straight man who does what he must to get by, and he’s getting the best fuck of his life from a guy who nearly dwarfs him. A guy who showed his girlfriend one hell of a night.

Suddenly, he imagines them all together, Danneel riding Jared and happily bouncing on his dick and whimpering her high little curses, then Jensen would get into the mix with too many hands to keep track of, but more than enough orgasms to go around.

And fuck, now his blood boils because Jared takes his dick in hand and strips him fast, still shoving up inside him like it’s nothing. Jensen opens his eyes to Jared covering his whole back, head ducking down to Jensen’s shoulder as he watches Jensen’s dick in his quick fist. 

“I wanna make you come,” Jared pants out, and that’s it. 

Jensen gives in and feels the rush overcome him as his vision blurs and he comes in Jared’s hand. Jared stutters his hips and buries himself deep inside. They both groan and Jared bites the side of Jensen’s neck as he shallowly rolls his hips through his own orgasm. 

Jared hums and holds Jensen tight against him. “That was very surprising. Very good, but surprising.”

“We should do it again sometime,” Jensen replies, and finds that he really wishes he could mean it. 

With a low, amused hum, Jared pulls away and motions Jensen towards the bathroom, where Jensen cleans himself up, Jared at the kitchen sink. 

When they’re both put back into place and Jensen’s standing in front of Jared in the living room, Jared assesses him. But more seriously than the times out in the hallway. “I would like to.”

“Like to what?” Jensen asks. His brain isn’t really online yet; he needs a few more minutes.

Jared smirks. “Do that again sometime.”

Jensen swallows, willing back all of that control he claimed he had before. “Yeah. We should. Maybe tomorrow?” he asks, and when Jared nods, he’s internally celebrating. If he gets Jared out of the apartment, Danneel can get in and steal the keys. He’s feeling incredibly sure of himself when he smiles and nods. “I can meet you at that bar again, and then we can come back here … again.”

“For sure.”

He’s not sure what to do now - kiss, hug, shake hands? It feels kind of awkward considering they literally met just minutes before fucking. 

Jared suddenly looks embarrassed and goes to the door with an apology. He opens it wide and Jensen finally takes his exit, waving on the way out. He tries his damnedest to not let his face show how blissed out he is. He thinks Jared catches it, though, because now he’s watching him with warm eyes like he had just earlier.

“See you tomorrow,” Jensen offers kindly.

“Six o’clock, good?”

“Perfect.”

 

Danneel sits in the corner of the dark hotel room, just waiting to pounce. She can hear the rumble of the car pulling into its spot, the die-down of the engine, then Jensen approaching the door and using the key. Once he’s a few steps inside, she flicks the lights on and scares the shit out of him.

Once his eyes adjust, he sighs, “Oh, Lord,” and drops his keys on the dinette table. 

“At least I’m not ambushing you in the shower.”

“I might’ve liked that,” he replies with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Who did you 99?” she asks immediately. No bullshit, she wants answers for something he never warned her about.

“What? No ‘hi, baby, how was your day?’” He approaches her in the corner, rests his hands on the arms of the chair she’s in, and leans close to kiss her. 

Danneel wrenches out of the way because she is _not_ giving in yet. She grabs his jaw and squeezes for his attention. “Who was it?”

“It was just a guy about a thing,” he says quickly.

She doesn’t buy it at all. Can’t accept he’s that nonchalant about sleeping with a guy when his ratio of girls to guys is pretty overwhelming. “What kind of thing?”

He shakes his head. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Then Danneel sees it. With her hand still on his chin, she yanks his head to the side and takes in the bite mark just below his ear. She thumbs at it and can see how the teeth line up with the edge of her thumb. Kind of like the ones on her own body.

Jensen’s been snooping around something and brushing her off for two days now. It makes her entirely too suspicious and, sure, overdramatic, but she’s not feeling his blasé attitude about where he’s been all day. 

“Who _was it_?” she asks again.

Jensen sighs and leans back on the dinette table. “I was checking up on your security guard and ran into a little bit of a pickle and so I-”

“Sucked said pickle?”

“Danneel.” He seems semi-embarrassed, but she bets it’s because she’s hit the nail on the head. “Don’t be so crass.”

“Well did you?” she asks in a low voice. She stands up to lean into him, to drag her nail down the length of his bitten-red neck and across his collarbone, one of his sweet spots. “Did you suck Jared’s pickle?”

He immediately flushes, though it could just be from her. He’s easy like that. “You’re being immature.”

Danneel pads her fingers down his neck again. “Did he fuck you?” Jensen’s pupils expand and she lowers her voice even more. “Did you like it?”

Jensen curses and slides away from her, huffing like a child. “Okay, yes, fine, I slept with Jared, okay? I had to.”

“How did you have to?” she yells back because this is the most absurd thing she’s ever heard. Jensen just keeps getting stupider and stupider.

“He caught me at his building and I had to figure out a way to not be suspicious.”

“So you decided ‘hey! I’ll let him fuck me to distract him from the fact that I broke into his apartment’?’”

“Well, yeah.”

“And did it work?” Jensen opens and closes his mouth a few times and Danneel sighs and groans. “What’m I gonna do with you?”

He puts his hands out in the air and shrugs. “Look, It might not have been the smartest thing I’ve done-”

Danneel snorts with a muttered, “Ain’t that right.”

With roll of his eyes, Jensen drops his hands to his lap. “Alright, it’s pretty far up there on the list of stupid things, but I also found out that he’s working for Sheppard.”

That definitely gets her attention, sends a punch of nervous tension down her arms and into her fingers. “He’s working for Sheppard? Doing what?”

“Keeping an eye on you.”

She thinks on that for a few moments then complains, “So I slept with him for nothing?”

“Well, not nothing,” Jensen says mock-thoughtfully. “He did get you to come three times.”

“Jensen,” she says tightly. 

“Which I can totally imagine now that I’ve been there.”

Danneel has to laugh at that, especially when Jensen wiggles his eyebrows. “I totally didn’t get gay vibes off of him, though.”

Jensen pushes off the table and goes into the bathroom. “That’s funny, because I totally didn’t get straight ones. He was _very_ into it.”

She follows him and slides up to sit on the bathroom counter, idly watching him take off his shirt then wash his face. She frowns as soon as she sees harsh marks on his skin, bites on his shoulders and the back of his neck. “How into it were you?”

He doesn’t immediately respond; he finishes rinsing and toweling his face before sliding closer and smiling. “Now, look who’s jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” she mumbles, reaching up to drag her fingers over the marks. She’s not jealous; at least she doesn’t think so. “It looks like it hurt.”

“Oh, really?” Jensen asks, lightly sarcastic as he thumbs over one of the marks near her collarbone that’s turning purple.

Danneel quickly moves her hand down to smack at his bare chest, laughing when he flinches and whines. She takes a deep breath and then considers the implications of Jared sleeping with them both, especially in a twenty-four-hour timeframe. “So if he’s working for Sheppard, what’s he aiming for?”

Jensen suddenly looks serious and Danneel really does not like that. “I think he was aiming for you.”

“Why do you say that? Why would he bother with you if he’s watching me?”

“I don’t know, but …” He hesitantly opens his mouth and licks his lips, like he can’t manage the right words. “He has a picture of you in his nightstand.”

“Like, ‘cause he thought I was hot?” she asks, even if she knows what the real reason is. She doesn’t want to consider that right now.

“He also had a gun in there. Actually, there are two guns, but one is likely on him most of the time.”

And there’s that deep chill in her bones that she’d been avoiding. She takes a deep breath and looks down at her knees, trying like hell to find the place where this whole situation make sense. “What do we do now?” she whispers. “We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

“No, we’re in luck,” Jensen says kindly. He palms her cheek and tips her face up, kisses her temple. “Because your awesome boyfriend has himself a date with Sheppard’s watchdog tomorrow evening.”

Jensen and Jared having a date does not make her feel any better about this whole mess. “Meaning what?”

“Meaning, he’ll be out of his apartment and unable to find you snooping around for his keys.” Jensen grins and moves between her legs, wrapping his arms around her waist. “And when you’re done, you give me a call, I fake a headache and ditch him to pick you up. Then we can sneak over to the bank and get the papers. Pretty smart, huh?”

She’s reluctant to do so, because it never does them any good to feed his ego, but she has to admit he has a pretty good set-up. Maybe Jensen sleeping with Jared will yield them a way out of this mess. 

Danneel rings her arms around his neck and softly kisses him. “My baby is so smart.”

“Yes, your baby is,” he agrees, moving in closer to kiss her again.

“I’ve made a huge mistake,” Jensen mutters into the top of his beer.

Jared’s off to the bathroom while Jensen can hypothesize just how much shit he’s getting himself into by being out with Jared and _flirting_. Sure, he’s supposed to be charming Jared, and he’s pretty sure he is, judging by the heated looks and the impressed way Jared’s eyes are roving over Jensen as they talk.

It’s been nearly three hours now and a handful of beers, and Jensen’s feeling warm and relaxed even if there’s a tiny corner of his brain nagging him for actually enjoying himself. 

He argues with himself, though, that his only job right now is to keep Jared out of his apartment and appropriately occupied so Danneel can find the keys and then call him when she’s ready.

As Jared returns to their booth, Jensen’s phone rings. He’s slightly shocked to feel disappointment at needing to end their night. He’ll blame it on the fact that this is the first friendly engagement he’s had in years. Every other moment of social activity has been geared towards a job and … dammit, he curses himself for letting himself forget that this right now is also for a job.

“Are you gonna answer that?” Jared asks, nodding at the phone in Jensen’s hand.

“Uh, yeah, of course,” Jensen replies quickly with a smile. He receives the call and can barely get out “Hello” when Danneel is steamrolling him.

“We are in trouble! Right now! I’m at Jared’s apartment with the keys in my hand and there is a car outside watching the building.”

Jensen swears his heart stops beating for a few seconds, but then it quickly comes back online pumping faster than ever. He gives Jared a quick glance and wave before he’s sliding out of the booth and shuffling far enough away that Jared won’t hear him.

“What are you talking about? What kind of car?”

“It’s a black sedan. Four door, tinted windows, partial license plate is A4Z-”

“Okay, just relax,” he soothes quickly. “It could be a car for anyone. Jared’s here and utterly distracted, so I think you’re just fine.”

“Jensen,” she whispers harshly. “I’m pretty sure it’s a Maybach. What’s a Maybach doing in this neighborhood?”

“Holy shit,” he mumbles. Maybachs are worth more than most people’s homes, and having one sitting in front of Jared’s building with Danneel inside can’t be a coincidence of any size. “Okay, I’ll be there. Go out the back to the alley in ten.”

“Over and out.”

Jensen ends the call and pockets his phone on his way back to the table. He offers Jared as easy of a smile as possible as Jared glances up from his own phone. “I am so sorry for that. I feel rude, but I have to cut out. My sister’s having a freak out about one of her stalker ex-boyfriends.”

Jared gives him a long look. “One of?”

With a chuckle, Jensen waves it off. “Yeah, she’s got awful taste in guys.” He pats Jared’s back and takes a few steps away from the table. “But it was good to see you tonight. We’ll have to do it again. I’ll make it up to you.”

Jared’s reply is lost in the crowd as Jensen rushes out of the bar and to the dark parking lot. In seconds, he has the car revving and spinning out of the parking lot, onto the street, and around the corner.

When he pulls up to the cross section closest Jared’s building, Jensen sees the sedan parked in front. Jensen idles a bit, memorizes the full license plate - _A4Z 8U9_ \- then continues down the perpendicular street towards the alley. 

He pulls the car up behind Jared’s building and waits. He can’t see much in the shadows, but suddenly something drops onto a closed dumpster, making Jensen jump in his seat and put the car into drive. Then he realizes it’s Danneel hopping off the dumpster and running to the passenger door. She slides into the seat and smacks the dash board. “Okay, go!”

“What’re you? Spiderwoman?” Jensen asks as he heads down the alley. 

“I had to get out somehow, and a window seemed like a great idea.”

“Could’ve warned me.”

“Next time, I’ll stop to text you,” she says, and the eye roll is obvious.

“I appreciate that,” he jokes, but then everything goes dead serious when a silver sedan rolls into the end of the alley, headlights glaring in their eyes as it faces them. 

Jensen comes to a sudden stop thirty feet away and waits. Maybe it’s just someone trying to get down the alley, maybe it’s the start of a three-point U-turn, or maybe their worst fears are coming true.

It really must be the latter because suddenly the back door to the silver sedan opens and out steps a tall blond man. Once Jensen shields his eyes from enough of the headlights, he can tell it’s Pellegrino walking towards their car. 

“Oh, fuck,” Danneel whispers.

“Yeah, I know.”

“What’re you doing?” she shrieks. “Get out of here.”

Jensen’s hand is frozen over the gear shift. One half of his brain is screaming at him to get the hell out of here while the other is afraid of running away from Pellegrino, thinks they’ll be better off answering to the man.

“ _Jensen!_ ” Danneel yells then clamps her hands around his and shifts the car into reverse.

That’s when he can finally see around the glare of the headlights that Pellegrino is aiming a gun at them. He fires and the bullet cuts right through the windshield, leaves a hole between Jensen and Danneel, and that’s fucking _it_.

“Get down!” Jensen yells at her while grabbing her neck to shove her down in her seat and punches the gas pedal. He slides down as low as he can while still watching the driver’s side rear view mirror as he drives back out of the alley, getting faster as more bullets pierce the windshield, making him flinch each time the glass cracks. The headlights are following them, the silver sedan speeding at them as now two gunmen are shooting at them, given how quickly bullets are firing.

At the mouth of the alley, he spins the steering wheel, whips the car back out onto the street, shifts into drive, and speeds down the side street.

“What the hell is going on?” Danneel asks as she rises back into her seat and watches the car follow them. There’s no more shooting, likely thanks to the suburban neighborhood. 

“I have no idea but - oh shit!” Jensen shouts as he stomps on the brakes to come just a few feet from hitting someone running in front of the car.

The guy stumbles in front of the car then stares at them, and Jesus Christ, now they’re staring at Jared staring right back at them.

A bullet shocks them all out of the stare-down and Jensen remembers what the hell is actually going on … except maybe not, because now the black Maybach heading towards them from the right, from where Jared was running.

Fuck this, they can’t sit around figuring it out; he hits the gas and tugs the wheel around to avoid hitting Jared as more bullets fire at the car.

They race around a few corners, putting some space between them and both cars. At another intersection, Jensen has to stop for opposing traffic, and that’s when everything goes from bad to worse: the back door opens and Jared jumps into the back seat.

“Jared!” Jensen and Danneel both yell at the same time then glance at each other.

“Hey, folks,” Jared says happily. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Get out the car!” Jensen shouts.

“Ooh, that’s _harsh_. After all the fucking we’ve been through, Dean?”

Danneel eyes Jensen then flinches when a bullet flies through the back windshield. “Don’t just sit here! They’re shooting at us!”

“I’m pretty sure they’re shooting at me, too,” Jared says as he lies back in the bench seat and kicks at the back driver’s side window. It’s already cracked with bullet holes and it shatters after a few swift hits with Jared’s boot. He leans out the window with a pistol and shoots at the Maybach, making it cut this way and that to avoid the hits. 

“What’re you doing?” Jensen asks him.

“I believe this is called helping,” Jared replies as he sits back in the seat again, the cars now out of view. “Turn left at the next light.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m _helping_. Take it or leave it.”

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Jensen complains even as he takes the left, “We’re kind of on the run from your boss.”

As Jensen punches the gas to put space between them and the other cars, Jared pops back up between the front seats. “Yeah, I totally noticed,” Jared replies with a smile, like he’s amused by this whole matter. “I noticed while I was also on the run from him.” Then he outright grins at them both. “Thanks for the pick-up, by the way.”

“Right, because we had nothing else going on tonight.”

“We had a date tonight,” Jared says easily as he leans even further forward to stare at Jensen. “A pretty nice one going until you had to leave for your sister’s stalker ex-boyfriend.” He glances at Danneel and easily smiles at her. “But you’re not his sister.”

Jensen looks at Jared, and Danneel shoves Jared back then tugs the wheel to swerve away from oncoming traffic. “Eyes on the road!”

A second later, a bullet pierces the back windshield then the front. In surprise, Jensen skirts the car to the side and Danneel grabs the wheel again. A glance in the rear view mirror shows the silver sedan is creeping up on them again. “Fuck, is that …?”

“Pellegrino,” Jared says darkly. “Keep the car straight.”

Jensen looks over his should to check what Jared’s doing, but by then, Jared is half hanging out the window again and firing at the sedan. Bullets crack the hood then one slashes through the front driver’s side wheel. The silver sedan skirts forty-five degrees and Jared shoots at the driver’s window as the car stops then is crushed on the passenger side by a car behind it.

Jared slides back into his seat and changes the clip in his gun.

“Holy shit,” Danneel shrieks. “You just-”

“Saved you from a life in the sex trade,” Jared replies. 

“Thanks?”

Jared shrugs. “He’s shooting at us all.”

Jensen’s nerves are still tense but he acknowledges a sliver of relief that it’s unlikely Pellegrino will catch up to them any time soon. 

He keeps watch of other traffic and speeds forward as Jared directs them onto a major route to get them out of town. He has no clue where they’ll go, but they can’t stick around, that much is obvious. “We’re totally fucked now,” Jensen sighs. 

“Not totally, but we can take care of that later,” Jared says with a wink.

“ _Wow_ ,” Danneel says loudly. “You’re actually gay.” Jared shrugs and she widens her eyes. “You are ridiculously good for being gay.”

“Hey,” Jensen argues but Danneel goes right on, now sounding truly interested.

“How did I not notice you were gay?”

“You were probably distracted by all those orgasms,” Jared belatedly replies, winking at her, too.

“ _Hey_!” Jensen repeats. 

Jared laughs and settles in the back seat. “If it makes you both feel any better, I straddle the fence.”

Jensen isn’t sure it really helps, but he can appreciate knowing that Jared must’ve enjoyed being with them each if he’s actually helping them get away. At least he hopes Jared is helping because the road they’re on forks and Jared insists they go right then directs them to a parking garage. On the third level in the back, there’s an SUV Jared jimmies open with a lock pick then jump starts after exposing the underside of the wheel carriage. 

“What’re we doing?” Jensen asks, standing next the car. 

“I don’t know about you, but I’m trading up.” When the engine kicks over, Jared grins then must sense how lost and paranoid Jensen currently is because Jared rubs his hand down Jensen’s arm then squeezes his hand briefly. “They’ve got your car marked. They’d follow us anywhere.”

“Us?” Danneel asks from behind Jensen. 

“Yeah.” After a moment, Jared looks confused. “You guys wanna get out of here, right?”

“All our stuff is at the motel.”

“Not anymore.”

“They’re in our room?”

“Were,” Jared answers easily. “I had you distracted, and Danneel’s hardly there on her own, so they went in.”

“Jensen,” she whispers, tightly grabbing the back of his shirt.

He’s certain she’s worrying over all their fake IDs, tools, clothes, random shit they’ve collected over the years, not to mention their stash of cash that gets them through each job. 

“You wanna go back?” Jensen asks, halfway contemplating if they could actually recover anything without losing their lives.

Danneel sighs, knowing better, then looks at the broken back driver’s side window of their sedan. “I liked that car.”

“I like living,” he mumbles. 

“We’ve done worse.”

Jensen smiles at her, because they first got out of Texas by living out of a tiny hatchback that could never last long on empty roads, pickpocketing for bus rides, and hitchhiking at the very worst of it. The backseat of an SUV with Jared at the helm can’t be too bad.

Except it takes another hour to get anywhere; Jared takes them down near-abandoned interstates until he finds a back road that winds through a dark forest and then dead ends at a cabin. He parks under a car park a few yards away and flashes them both a smile.

“See, we’re good,” Jared insists.

Jensen’s not up for trusting Jared at the moment, being one of Sheppard’s hired hands after all. Yet, it’s not like they have many options at the moment. 

“Where are we?” Danneel asks once they’re out of the vehicle, spinning in place to take in the wooded area. “The last time we stayed in a place like this, Jensen had stolen an ugly car, and look where that got us.”

“Sharlene,” Jared replies with a knowing nod. 

Jensen breaks from glaring at Danneel to ask, “Excuse me?”

“Sheppard’s car.”

Jensen makes a face; he hadn’t pictured _that_ name, but to each their own. “Speaking of your boss … are we really safe here?”

“Yeah, of course, c’mon.” Jared motions them to the cabin, and retrieves a key from the inside of a very decrepit, yet extremely deceiving rock, and unlocks the door to let them in. “We shouldn’t stay long, but we’ll be okay for a few days.”

Inside, it’s an open floor plan with a king bed off in one corner, kitchenette in another, two wood-framed arm chairs with gaudy upholstery and matching sofa, and a surprisingly fantastic fireplace. The place isn’t big – or all that well furnished – but it’s comfortable given the circumstances. 

Jensen waits until they’re settled to ask Jared what the hell is really happening. Well, relatively settled, because Danneel is sacked out in bed after a long, hot shower, and Jared has started a fire in the stone fireplace. Jared stokes the ambers, poking one log into place, then hands Jensen his half-full glass of whiskey when Jensen steps up to him. 

He takes a long look at the glass, Jared, and again at the glass, figuring if he’s going to get drunk, right now is a great time. The liquor burns down his throat and low in his belly and he has to admit that it’s a nice match to the heat of the fire in front of them. 

Jared is watching him with a mellow smile then takes the glass back, winks, and tips his head back to sip before passing it back. 

“So, is this an elaborate set-up?” he asks Jared sharper than intended.

Jared looks clearly offended and slowly says, “No, why would it be?”

“Because you work for Sheppard.”

“Which you didn’t seem to mind yesterday.”

Jensen fumbles for an appropriate response and drinks instead. They probably need more alcohol to have a real conversation after the night they’ve had.

Especially when Jared adds, “When you were bent over my couch.”

“Is that really your couch?”

Jared shrugs and takes the glass back. “Okay, it wasn’t really my place. But my point still stands. I’m not in any better standing with Sheppard than you are.”

“Why?”

With a harsh chuckle and the glass held near his mouth, Jared shakes his head. “Like most employers, he’s a fan of ‘look, but don’t touch’.” Jensen watches Jared take a bigger gulp of whiskey and hiss immediately after; he’s not sure what that really means. “He came to pull me out once he heard I slept with you both.”

“And pull you out means?” Jensen asks, even when he’s pretty sure of the answer.

“If Sheppard were a New Yorker, I’d be sleeping with the fishes.”

Jensen snorts and takes the glass from Jared to drink. “Who knew a good fuck would be so much trouble?”

“It _was_ good, wasn’t it?”

Jensen immediately looks to the bed, where Danneel is still tucked in with the blankets pulled over her shoulder. He feels guilty for even thinking it with her in the room, but it is the truth. 

“Sheppard said you two were some strange Bonnie & Clyde crap. She told me you were just friends.”

Slowly, Jensen turns back to Jared. _Some strange Bonnie & Clyde crap_ sits heavy at the back of his brain no matter how nicely Jared is regarding him. 

“So which are you?”

Jared is still staring at him and Jensen can’t figure out what to say at the moment, really. His brain is on overload and yet not entirely firing right now. It’s been a long, crazy week, and he suddenly wishes he’d collapsed into bed with Danneel when she did. Finally, he replies, “Bonnie & Clyde, I guess. But we’ve never killed anyone.”

“Yet.”

“No,” he says, firmly. “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

“Just having fun.” He hands Jared the glass then nods to the bed. “I’m gonna crash, but you –”

Jared waves him off with a kind smile. “The couch is fine for me, don’t worry.”

Jensen doubts anything other than the bed can contain Jared’s size, but he’s not going to argue. He slips off his jeans then slides into bed right behind Danneel with an arm around her waist and a smile when she subconsciously leans back to him. 

It’s one of the better moments of the day and helps enough for him to fall asleep. 

With the sun streaming in through the few windows of the cabin, Jensen struggles to keep his eyes open or see beyond the glare off the mirror near the sink area. 

He shields some of the light and blinks until Jared and Danneel come into focus at the dinette table. Jared’s sitting forward on the wooden kitchen chair with Danneel next to him but resting on her legs and leaning across the table. She’s got a phone in her hand - _Jensen’s phone_ , he realizes – as she’s whispering to Jared. 

“I already tried his birthday and mama’s birthday.”

“What about an anniversary?”

Danneel snorts. “We just look that traditional, huh?”

 _Well fuck_ , Jensen thinks. They’re trying to break into his phone? Now he can’t even trust _her_? Fifteen years and she rolls over for a couple of good orgasms, what the hell? He’s about to sit up and ask what the hell is going on when Jared chuckles softly and Jensen decides to watch a little longer.

“Fair enough. “How about 6-9-6-9?”

She snorts again and moves to elbow him, all while still smiling. Then suddenly her mouth drops open and she’s smacking Jared’s arm excitedly. “I got it!”

Jared shifts closer to see over her shoulder. “It was really 69?”

“It was not, you moron.” Danneel smirks when Jared winks at her and it’s all sorts of uncomfortable to watch. Thinking about them together ( _three times_ ) has been bad enough, when it didn’t turn Jensen on), but now he has to consider that the woman he’s loved for more than half his life is ready to pick up and leave?

“I’m not a moron,” Jared insists.

“Honey, you really are.” When Jared pouts, she tips her head thoughtfully. “You’re a really cute one, though. A really cute moron who forgot to charge his phone.” 

Jared playfully sighs and pouts. “I can’t be perfect.”

“No, you can’t.” Danneel – the dirty little harlot – scrolls through the phone and leans harder on the table. “Okay, here it is … and it’s ringing,” she says in a rush as she hands the phone to Jared.

Jared brings the phone to his ear and easily smiles at Danneel as he begins talking to … “Sorry, boss, but no, not Jensen. It’s Jared … yeah, I know you’re none too happy right now.” Jared looks right at Danneel and devilishly insists, “But I’m on their trail and I’ll bring ‘em in.” 

And _OH_ , they weren’t hacking his phone for some secretive getaway. She was hacking Jensen’s phone for Sheppard’s number and is apparently part of a double cross to trap Sheppard. 

Lord Almighty, Jensen is growing hard beneath these blankets and he’s not blaming it entirely on morning wood; he fucking loves this woman and her feisty, devious brain. 

Jared trades info on a location to meet then puts the phone down with a cocky smile. 

“I still can’t believe he has this much in these accounts,” Danneel says, picking up a stack of papers and flipping through them. 

“You think he came by his billions honestly? With that evil accent?”

She chuckles and nudges his shoulder with her own. “No, I know, but I just figured he’d have more liquid assets. This is a lot of money tied up in difficult ways.”

“It _is_ a lot of money,” Jared agrees. He tugs his laptop across the tabletop to set right in front of them. He types out a few commands then cocks an eyebrow at Danneel. “So how much you want?”

Danneel closes the laptop screen. “I think we should finish one mistake before we make another.”

Jensen finally shifts up to his elbow, rubbing a hand down his face, and finds Danneel smiling at him as she unfolds herself from her seat to walk to the bed. 

“Mornin’, Sunshine,” Danneel murmurs then leans down to kiss his forehead. She stands back up with her hands on her hips, looking mighty proud of herself even if she’s minimally dressed in boy shorts and a tank that seems far too stretched out to be hers. It’s got to be Jared’s and that’s surprisingly making his dick even harder. “We’ve been doing a little bit of handiwork while you got your beauty sleep.”

Jensen glances at Jared who’s smiling at them both. “I heard,” Jensen says then clears his sleepy voice and tries to pretend he wasn’t just eavesdropping on them. “What’s going on?”

“We got the papers out early this morning.”

Jensen blinks and wonders how long he’s actually been sleeping. Long enough for them two to escape back to town, slip into the bank, and get back. 

She runs fingers through his hair then tugs a little for his attention. “Get your butt into the shower then we have to hit the road. We’ve got big plans to whip into shape.”

Butt, shower, whip … they’re all awful words right now. Jared is in the room, they’re on the run, they have to get out of this cabin before Sheppard tracks them down. There are a dozen more reasons that Jensen’s dick should stop thinking, but he can’t help it. 

His upstairs brain doesn’t know better, either, because he rubs the back of her thigh and asks, “Join me?”

Danneel narrows her eyes then glances back at Jared for a second. When Jensen’s fingers slide up around her thigh, she smacks his arm away. “Not now. Work.”

She shifts away and faces the corner closest to the bed as she pulls the tank away from her body, but not off, and slips her bra under and into place. It’s the little, stupid things that Jensen still enjoys about her, like watching her get dressed in her own quick, efficient way when they’re on the go, so he’s smiling when he sits up in bed and checks Jared.

He had figured Jared would be watching Danneel, seeking out any flash of milky skin, but no. Jared is again smiling at Jensen. “Maybe next time,” Jared suggests with a short nod towards the bathroom.

Jensen doesn’t waste time getting into the shower to jerk off to image of them crowded in the shower stall, three wet bodies all fighting to touch and get off. And he gets himself off, biting his lower lip hard enough that it stings for another ten minutes. He's not entirely proud of it, but he's beginning to think there's something to this arrangement.

“This is a horrible idea.” Danneel rolls her eyes when Jensen goes on to say, “Should’ve never taken the bank job. I told you, we shouldn’t have.”

“And I told you that you should not have taken that stupid, ugly car.”

“We could’ve gotten $200,000 for that thing.”

“You would’ve never gotten sticker value,” she insists before taking a long sip of coffee they snagged from a gas station about a hundred miles ago. It’s pretty nasty and mostly cold, but she needs something to distract her from Jensen’s painfully stupid insistence. 

“I maybe could’ve.”

“You maybe never do.”

“It’s not ugly,” he argues then looks up to Jared walking a few feet ahead of them. 

Jared is leading them into the mouth of a darkened alleyway and even if they’d all discussed where to go from the cabin, Danneel still thinks it’s a bit suspect. 

“Did you think it was ugly?” Jensen asks

Jared opens the door to the abandoned warehouse where they’re meeting Sheppard. He looks tired, and bored, maybe both. Danneel wouldn’t blame him after getting sucked into their shit. “I’m not getting into this.” He smiles charmingly at Jensen and motions inside. “Ladies first.”

Danneel snorts then zips her lip when Jensen glares. He’s so touchy. Maybe she would be too if she were to blame for this debacle. “I still love you, baby,” she says sweetly, leaning in to smack a kiss to his cheek.

Jensen seems like he’s still annoyed, but she can read the small quirk to his lips; he’s dying to smile at her.

She’s reminded how huge and messy this debacle really is when they find themselves on the far end of a shadowy open space and Sheppard stands at the far end.

He’s alone as promised in the call, but Danneel is sure there are others lingering around somewhere. No way would Sheppard be stupid enough to meet all three of them here – even if he believes Jared is still on his orders. 

As Jared leads them through the warehouse, Sheppard adjusts his stance and grins for their approach.

“My lovelies. It’s wonderful to see you all together.” He nods at Jared with a wry smile. “Especially you, monkey.”

Jared’s eyes narrow then he motions to the side. “I brought them like I said I would.”

“Yes, you were always a very good little pet.” Sheppard smiles cruelly as he regards all three of them. “I’m certain you were able to show these two just how much.”

“Just trying to make amends with you.”

“Well, if you knew how to keep your dick in your pants, we wouldn’t be in this position in the first place.” Sheppard’s voice goes dark. “Now, get out of here.”

Danneel watches Jared purse his lips and clench his jaw as he steps to the side. It’s not too far, but he’s lurking deep enough in the shadows that she can’t see him without really searching for him in the dark.

Sheppard grins at her, tipping his head to the side as though he truly cares. “I’m so sorry, princess. Did you really think Jared would turn over for a cheap date?” Following a harsh laugh, Sheppard shakes his head and tsks. “Jared knows best who puts money in the bank and milkbones in his pocket.”

There’s a flicker of moonlight shining off of Jared’s gun, now drawn and at his side and she hears Jensen sigh beside her.

“Isn't that right, mutt?”

Jared lifts his head in reply and Danneel’s stomach rolls even when Jensen’s fingers run along her lower back in comfort. As her eyes adjust, she can now make out Jared in the darkness. His face is set, absent of the easy smiles and light eyes he’s had with them all these last twenty-four hours. It reminds her of those first few days at the bank when she tried to win him over and all he did was stare back, unconcerned. Shit. Maybe they’ve all played each so far around that she truly cannot trust anyone. Jared led them right to Sheppard, and even if they had a game plan, she’s not feeling all too comfortable with executing it now with Jared in the shadows.

 _Executing_. It’s likely what Sheppard (or Jared) will be doing with them when they’re done.

Danneel is short of breath as she figures now it’s just her and Jensen against Sheppard, who idly swipes lint off his shoulder then stares at them with a dark leer.

“Now. As for you two,” Sheppard growls. “The obnoxious thorns in my side.”

Danneel looks between Jensen and Sheppard then tries to sneak a glance at Jared, but there’s nothing to read on anyone’s faces. Sheppard seems like he’s ready to pounce on any one of them, or just nod at Jared to end it all. _Bang-bang_ , she and Jensen would be on the floor without a way to survive. 

“We have the stuff,” Danneel blurts out. She holds up the manila envelopes they’d nabbed from the bank way early that morning. “So, we’re good now, right?”

Sheppard smirks and slowly strolls towards them. He steps up right to Danneel’s space, eyes roving her face as she feels her pulse quicken. “You think so, now do you?”

“I’d like to think so.”

With a haughty laugh, Sheppard looks at Jensen. “Your lady here sure has balls of steel, don’t she?” He snorts, shakes his head, and turns back to Danneel. After a few quiet, tense moments, he takes the manila envelopes from her hands and bounces them in his own, as if he’s weighing the papers to judge that it’s all really there. “So when push comes to shove, lovely, you’ve finally come through?”

Danneel forces her head up to stare him down. “It took some time to collate all those copies.”

Sheppard searches her eyes. “Pardon?”

“We had a lot of copies to make,” she replies tightly. “I’m certain a lot of people would be interested in the size of your …” Danneel looks him up and down then bites her lower lip seductively. “Holdings.”

Jensen moves forward to crowd Sheppard. “I think what my lady with the brass balls is saying is that we have a dozen copies for the eyes of some very special folks.”

Sheppard’s eyes immediately find Jensen’s, and Jensen just blinks prettily return. “Like who?”

There’s his soon-to-be-ex’s lawyers and the federal government to start. Danneel just slips into an easy smile; watching Sheppard flub for even half a second is worth much of this mess. “Do you really need to ask?”

“Jared!” Sheppard barks and shuffles back to put some space between them. “You let these idiots do this?”

Jared steps forward with his gun in the air towards them. “No, I didn’t,” he replies, and it’s true. 

Danneel and Jensen had to retain some sense of control in this manner and when Danneel had insisted on shoddy gas station coffee, Jensen slipped around the corner to a copy and mailbox center.

Sheppard huffs. “So you’re even more helpless than I had originally gathered?” He laughs riotously as he puts even more space between them then spins around and angrily points at them. “Just put us all out of our misery, my God!”

Jared lifts his gun higher, narrowing his eyes down the barrel and fires. Danneel flinches against Jensen, hands gripping his shirt as they both drop to the floor. 

“ _Oww_!” Sheppard shouts. “You stupid little …”

Danneel shifts to her side and sees Sheppard is cradling his left shoulder, rocking at the hips with pain etched across his face. Jared has his gun trained on Sheppard’s head now.

“You moron! You useless, big-headed baboon, I meant shoot them!”

“Yeah, I kinda got that,” Jared replies. Another few tense moments filled with Sheppard moaning and going for his cell, and Jared winks at Danneel, which makes her shift up to sit with a bit of a smile.

 _Jesus_. This man. Flipping on everyone a dozen times to Sunday, and all wrapped up in an incredibly tall, exceptionally handsome, and beautifully muscular package. She’s turned on just thinking about the brain that must've thought through every turn of the last two days.

Gritting through the pain, Sheppard glares at Jared. “I will gut you myself.”

Jared fakes thought and hums. “Mmm, I don’t think so.”

“Then I’ll have Hank do it,” Sheppard insists, bringing his phone to his ear.

Another gunshot and Sheppard falls to the ground with his knee blown out by the bullet. The phone skids far enough that Danneel can quickly crawl forward to grab it and she ends the call Sheppard had placed before Jared rendered him immobile for the time being.

“You kids just gonna sit and watch?” Jared asks.

Danneel gets to her feet then pulls Jensen up with her. “Are you really gonna kill him?” Get back at Sheppard, yes. First-degree murder … not quite on the agenda.

Jared shrugs. “I was thinking about it.”

Jensen tugs Danneel even further away and awkwardly laughs. “If you’re all set, then I think we’re good to hit the road.”

Nodding, Jared keeps his eye on Sheppard still painfully fidgeting on the musty cement floor, and digs his keys out of his front pocket. “Take the truck," he offers, tossing the keys to Jensen.

“And then?” Danneel asks. holds her breath, waiting for Jared to insist they hang around for him or to instruct them on where to meet up, but he seems pretty resolute in facing Sheppard. All she has to offer is a watery smile that he smoothly returns. She really will miss the guy, and he’s likely putting himself into a world of pain by double-crossing his boss. “Jared, we can …” she trails off, unsure of what they really can do.

“I’ll see you two on the other side,” Jared says. 

They don’t reply; Jensen’s yanks her hard enough that they run out of the warehouse. She’s compliant yet quiet when they get into the SUV and Jensen pounds the gas pedal hard. Dirt and gravel kick up behind them as they make their getaway.

 

**  
Epilogue**

It’s hot as hell. Danneel says it’s the humidity. It’s a stupid argument they have on a regular basis, but they’re in the Bahamas; Jensen can’t find much to truly complain about.

Jensen’s in one of his few collared shirts, faded cargo shorts, loafers, sunglasses, and a straw fedora. Back at their little beach rental, he would feel overdressed, but it’s appropriate now when he enters the small Bahamian bank, outfitted with white marble flooring, creamy brick walls, and a gorgeous oak desk where an associate leads him to sit. 

“Mr. Brady, how are you?” the eager banker asks with a bit of island flare to his voice. His teeth are crooked but bright in his smile, animating his face. “I have been waiting your arrival.”

Jensen takes his hat and glasses off and smiles with guilt. “I’m sorry. The ferry was –”

“No worries,” the man waves off. “I was just concerned you had changed your mind.”

Chuckling, Jensen holds his leather portfolio tightly in his hands and thinks of how this has been an all-day affair. He left their little patch of beach at dawn to catch the ferry to start this whole process, then island-hopped until he found himself here on San Salvador Island with the hospitable Andrew to finish the day’s work.

“I have not,” Jensen reassures him. He sets the portfolio on the desk, tipping it open enough to pull out a bank-issued check. The amount has more than enough zeros to feed the entire island for years to come, surely, and that makes Jensen feel a bit embarrassed. But considering all the tasks and trades they’ve made in their career, he thinks he and Danneel deserve it without complaint.

Jensen slides the check across the table and pleasantly smiles. “I’d like to open an account with your fine establishment.”

“Yes, Mr. Brady. We would be happy to have you. Extremely happy. Just need to see your identification.” Andrew takes the check and excitedly motions an assistant over for new paperwork. 

He easily accepts Jensen’s fake documentation – just one piece of many to get him through this day, including a passport that claims him to be an Irishman who once had two working knees. Sheppard had intended to hide his money away from those who had rights to it; now it will be held under one of Jensen’s aliases, far from where anyone else can get to it. 

_Revenge_ , Danneel had murmured when they discussed the plot.

 _Retirement_ , Jensen replied. 

“And your secondary holder?” Andrew asks.

Jensen provides one of Danneel’s aliases with a smile. She’s not here since Jensen had worried about them both being caught or spotted; he’d rather go down alone if someone, somehow, had followed their trail down to the islands. 

“Vanessa Fanning. She’s a bit tied up today. We can be back for her signing.” 

Andrew gladly assents to that; Jensen’s dumping a lot of money into this place, so there’s no doubt exceptions will be made. “Yes, of course.”

An hour later and Jensen has signed _Eric Brady_ in a half dozen places and procured a few high-dollared bank-issued checks as well as a tall, ice-cold bottle of water to quench his dry, talked-out throat. 

“May you have a notepad and a few envelopes I can use?”

“Why of course, Mr. Brady.” Andrew rushes through his desk and hands over the items. “Anything you need, you name. I’ll be happy to supply it.”

Jensen smirks and drops his head to make out the notes to accompany the checks. One to Danneel’s family and another to his own. The final note goes to Pellegrino at $1,000,000, more than double what the diamonds were worth.

_Not like you need it, but I’m certain this will cover what we took from you. We’re even and done. If you breathe a word about this to Sheppard, you’ll need a cane like your dear friend.  
Sincerely Yours_

There’s great satisfaction in closing that envelope and setting all three in Andrew’s palm to be mailed. Jensen nods in thanks, puts his hat on and tips it at the banker, then heads out to catch a puddle jumper back to West End.

A few hours later, with the setting sun shining orange across the water, Jensen is _home_. He takes the outdoor stairs to the second floor of their new waterfront Isle house. From the open balcony, he enters the bedroom and finds Danneel much the same way he left her half a day ago.

“Did you do anything today?” he asks, playfully annoyed.

She rolls over in the bed, turquoise bikini popping against her sugary brown skin, and licks her lips as she lazily stretches. “Went for a run, a swim, made lunch, ya know ... How about you?”

Jensen sits beside her on the mattress and combs fingers through her hair. He shrugs and drags his fingertips over her sun-warmed shoulder. “Went to the capital, stole some money, just the usual.”

“You got it done?”

“Of course,” he smugly replies. “You doubted me?”

“Maybe a little.”

“It was a piece of cake,” he insists. “Richard’s guy made a beautiful passport and set me up with a banker who didn’t question anything. You’ll have to go in with me to sign for authorization, but otherwise, we’re good.”

Danneel lifts an eyebrow with interest. “How good?”

“Well, after settling Pellegrino and sending some to our parents? We’re sitting pretty on forty or fifty million.”

Danneel gets up to her knees and slowly unbuttons his shirt. Her voice drops low as he looks up at him from beneath lowered lashes. “Tell me again. And slowly.”

Jensen chuckles and shrugs his shirt off then tugs her into his lap. “Richard’s guys in Nassau cleared out Sheppard’s account to one Eric Brady. Then Andrew in San Salvador, with a lovely assistant named Maria, happily deposited every last cent.” 

With a pleased sigh, Danneel closes her eyes and presses her breasts against his bare chest. “I love it when you talk dirty.”

He fingers the strings of her bikini top and drags his mouth up the side of her neck. “We’re retired, baby.”

“Mmm, semi-returned,” she hums, tipping her head to the side so he can nuzzle behind her ear. “Still gotta have a little fun once in a while.”

Jensen runs his hands over her ass, grabs her cheeks with a pleasant squeeze, and rocks her against his dick, which is becoming very interested in moving this conversation forward. “We always have fun.”

“Doesn’t hurt to expand our horizons.” She winks then shifts back to lie out on the bed and bring him right over her. 

He doesn’t waste time pulling the ties of her bikini top and as soon as the fabric is loose, he leans down to lick over her nipple. She moans and stirs below him as he squeezes her breast with his palm and sucks on as much as he get in his mouth. He pulls up with a loud smack of his lips around her nipple and moves onto the other breast, paying it the same attention as he grinds his hips down against her. 

Dragging her fingernails down his bare back, she whimpers and pushes up against him. “Baby, take off your shorts.”

Jensen gets up to his knees and shuffles, shameless of the bulge in his shorts or how he puts on a child-like tone when he asks her to do it for him. He loves watching how efficiently her hands move to unbutton and unzip his shorts, nudge the shorts and underwear down enough to let his dick out, then fist it in her warm hand. He adores how her cheeks tinge pink when she sees and touches his cock, how she bites her plush lower lip, and glances up at him with those luscious doe eyes. 

“Baby,” she murmurs. 

He cups her cheek and runs his thumb across her mouth. “Yeah, baby?”

She continues to fist him, wrist twisting perfectly as she drags her fingers up to the head of his cock and squeezes. “About that expanding horizons thing?”

“Yeah?”

“What about Jared?” she asks then closes her lips around the tip of his dick and tongues the underside. 

“Fuck, baby,” he breathes out. She runs her tongue all around him and mouths over the thick vein that’s pumping blood right out of his head and into his dick. It takes a few moments to remember she had suggested anything. It’s not like there’s a question about it, anyway. “Yeah, of course, where is he?”

“Right here,” Jared says from the doorway. 

They both look to him and Jensen is certain that Danneel is appreciating the ripple of Jared’s bare chest, or even how he’s slowly palming himself through a towel precariously hanging around his hips. Jensen, though, he’s turned on by the thought of Jared standing there patiently watching them. 

Stealing things, being on the run, and conning people have all been a rush for them. Jensen’s recently realized that voyeurism is, too. Watching Jared and Danneel together, letting either of them watch him with the other, whatever. It’s a beautiful high that makes him want to show off in the dirtiest ways possible.

Danneel laughs brightly with her head now hanging off the edge of the bad as she looks at Jared. “Heya, sweetheart,” she murmurs. 

Jared smirks and nods. “Howdy yourself, darlin’.”

Danneel’s hand is still around Jensen’s dick but it’s barely moving, and all three of them are quiet, likely waiting for someone to say or do something. Jensen comes up with an intelligent, “So …”

“Y’all can keep goin’,” Jared drawls out darkly. “Actually, I insist you do.”

With a sweet smile, Danneel rises to her elbows and looks up at Jensen. Her tits are now right in front of his groin and it doesn’t take more than a second for him to grab them, squeeze them together, and massage his thumbs and fingers over her nipples. She whimpers and drops her head back, long, wavy hair spilling over the side of the bed. With her back arched like that, the position is perfect. The angle of her chest right into his hands is just right and he rocks forward, slipping his dick right between her breasts. The pleasant give and sharp cleavage of her breasts is the perfect channel for him to slide back and forward again, making him curse.

“Oh, you show off,” she chuckles, but she sounds out of breath when she picks her head up to watch. The high color on her cheeks says she’s into it, too. 

Jensen moans and adjusts his hands, gripping her tits again and pushing them around his dick as he fucks forward again and again and again. He likes watching his cock on her chest, how her plump breasts mold around it until his cock head slides into the top of her cleavage and drops back down. 

“God, that’s hot,” Jared pants. His hand is now under the towel and Jensen laughs at him. Jared might as well give up the pretense and get with the program, but apparently this is all part of their game.

Danneel lifts her leg, knee nudging against his ass crack, and then she licks her lips and he’s afraid he’ll blow it right here on her tits. Which is well and good because she always looks illicitly gorgeous painted up. He can’t finish just yet; they’ve all got a lot to do.

“Alright, alright,” he groans and pulls away. “I know, you’re starvin’ for attention now.”

She bites her lower lip and is delicious with her breasts splotchy pink and pale where his hands were gripping and another flush running up her neck in anticipation. “I _am_ a little hungry.”

Jensen slides back on the bed, kicks his shorts and underwear all the way off, then pushes her knees apart. “So’m I,” he says then licks a quick stripe right up the middle seam of her bikini. The slick fabric is already damp and smells like her. He’s drawn to it and mouths over the fabric more as he unties the sides the bottom and teases with how slow he pulls the strings loose and the whole thing away so he can see her glistening pussy. 

With a light hum, he runs his fingers up and down the lips of her pussy and shoots Jared a look. The guy is still leaning against the doorway, hand still up his towel. Jensen nods to the empty chair on his right. “You might want a better seat.”

“Was just waiting for you to ask.”

“You don’t have to wait,” Danneel says, “right, baby?”

Jensen nods and smiles at her. He really loves this woman right now, adores how she’s smart and slick on the streets and even smoother in bed. He rewards her for it by pushing two fingers inside her and thumbing her clit. “That’s right, baby.” Danneel hitches her hips to push against his hand and he tsks. “Not too fast, honey. Wanna take my time. Get you all loose.”

Jared’s foot nudges Jensen’s shin, his leg now up on the bed so the towel slips off his lap and puts his large, hard dick on display. “Already did that earlier.”

Twisting his wrist and sliding his fingers in deeper, Jensen wrenches a high-pitched whimper out of Danneel. He keeps his eyes on Jared as he does it again, both of them sharing a pleased look. “Did ya now?”

“Kinda hard to resist her first thing in the morning.”

“And in the evening,” Jensen agrees. He drags his other hand up her belly, rubbing with care until he reaches her breast and twists her nipple as she arches her back. “How much you wanna play, honey?”

She slowly licks her bottom lip, regards them both, then lets out a tiny squeak when he thumbs faster at her clit. “I want you to fuck me.” Jensen smiles, because he does, too, always does. He slides forward but her hands on his chest halts that plan. “Right in front of Jared,” she clarifies and brings her right leg up, shifting towards Jared so her whole front is on display.

However she wants it, Jensen will do it, because he loves his girl, dreams of making her happy. And fucking her while facing their new … boyfriend? Partner? Friend? Whatever, doesn’t matter, Jensen will do it most of the time. 

Who’s he kidding, he’ll do anything when it’s Danneel or Jared. He’s learned that rather quickly since arriving on this beach. 

Jensen grips the underside of her thigh to draw her legs open, lines up behind her, and smoothly slides right into her wet cunt. They moan together as he rocks in and out, finding their rhythm immediately, and now Jared’s fisting himself to it as well. 

Danneel reaches back to hold Jensen’s wrist as her whole body jerks with each slap of his hips to her ass, each time he fucks into her, and he punches her breath out in tiny moans each time he does it. 

“Wait,” Jared suddenly says, short and loud. He looks a bit shocked that he’s stopped them, and the room feels frozen until he releases a harsh breath and gets out of the seat to kneel in front of them. His wide palm closes around Danneel’s raised knee and pushes her wider, and he gets close to mouth at her clit. 

“Oh fuck, Jared,” she moans and slides her hand into his hair. 

_Oh fuck, Jared_ is right, Jensen thinks. Or even _Fuck Jared_ , because he wouldn’t mind doing that when they’re done here. Either way, it’s driving Jensen crazy to see Jared eating at her so fiercely while Jensen fucks her; he loves the tag team spirit to get Danneel off. It’s the first time all three have been together; he’s now wondering why they waited so long.

Jensen pulls back and pushes back in slower than before, still enough to keep him and Danneel going, but not too much to disrupt Jared licking her clit like a pro. Jared’s tongue is flickering fast and steady before he closes his lips around her and must suck for dear life because he’s greedily moaning and she’s releasing short, high cries, begging him to keep it up, for them both to. 

Jared smacks his lips when he lets her go, licks his wide tongue all the way around his mouth, and keeps Jensen’s eyes as he still runs his fingers over Danneel’s clit a few times. “You should finish her.”

He doesn’t have to be told twice; Jensen shifts and pulls her leg to his side so she’s on her back, all of her heated, rosy skin on display below him. He plants his hands on either side of her head and slides right back into her. He fucks fast and hard, pressing her down into the mattress as she holds his neck and keeps her eyes right on his. She’s biting her lower lip while lifting her hips to meet every stroke. He grinds down particularly hard, rubbing his groin into her clit and keeps rocking tiny circles as she shrieks and digs her nails into his neck. She’s so close, he doesn’t want to screw around anymore. He just wants to watch her fall apart. 

And she does, hands gripping his neck tightly as she squirms and screams out his name. He rocks forward, lengthening his strides and smiling down on her. Her smile in return is loose and her eyes are dazed, and she’s fucking gorgeous fucked over. 

He pitches his hips forward, going as deep as he can then Jared’s hand is at his lower back. “Stay,” Jared says quietly. 

Jensen can’t look over his shoulder fast enough; suddenly Jared’s finger, cold and slick, rubs at Jensen’s hole. A second later, the tip pushes in and Jensen groans Jared’s name as his elbows let up and he almost falls on Danneel. 

“C’mere, baby,” Danneel coos as she pulls his face down to hers. 

They make out leisurely, like so many other times following sex, except he’s still incredibly hard and buried deep, deep inside her. And Jared is behind him now fingering him with two knobby-knuckled fingers. Jared, obviously, doesn’t believe in real prep because he now in fast and hard while panting between Jensen’s shoulder blades. It feels good, better than good. It’s fan-fucking-tastic to be buried balls-deep in his gorgeous girl, feeling her hot and wet inside, watching her beautiful flushed face admiring him right back … and then there are Jared’s fingers – now three – pressing inside, twisting and scissoring, sparking white behind his eyelids when Jared catches his prostate.

Jensen rocks back onto Jared’s hand and forward to Danneel, unable to figure out which will make him come first, even if he’s not sure he wants it that easy. 

Luckily, Jared is here to read that; he playfully smacks Jensen’s ass and chuckles. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart.” His fingers are gone for a few seconds, replaced by his slicked-up, still very large and very hard dick as the head of it pushes just inside Jensen’s ass. 

“I forget every fucking time,” Jensen says on a tight breath, because it always mildly hurts for Jared to fuck into him those first few times. Yet, Jensen feels completely bound between these two sexy, beautiful, extremely horny creatures. He laughs at himself for that, then his breath is punched out of his lungs when Jared pushes all the way in so his balls are snug against Jensen’s ass.

He’s not even sure how Jared’s balancing, one hand on the mattress and the other on Jensen’s hip, but he’s managing to now pull back and slide all the way in over and over. It forces Jensen deeper into Danneel and she moans for it, Jensen, too. And then eventually it’s a chorus of all three of them whimpering and whining and growling. 

There are cut-off curses, demands, and outright exclamations of pleasure as Danneel is getting fired up again and Jensen is very close to coming as Jared fucks him fast and dirty. 

Danneel begins fingering her clit and pitches her back with the rush. Jensen leans down to lick her nipple, suck it between hips lips, and lightly bite until Jared fucks him particularly hard and he shouts in that good kind of pain. 

Just another minute or two and Danneel breaks, her wet cunt clenching Jensen as he continues to slide through her. He can’t hold out now, it’s enough to wreck him and he comes just after her. They’re a boneless mess, heaped on top of one another on the bed, but Jared doesn’t seem to mind. He pulls out then grabs Jensen’s ass and slides his dick into the crease of it until he shoots over Jensen’s lower back. 

“You make me feel so old, man,” Jensen grumbles with his face pressed against Danneel’s mouth. “How can I keep up with you two?”

Jared smacks his ass and flops beside them on the mattress. “You got a lot of time to practice. Now that we’re all retired.”

“Semi,” Danneel argues as she weakly nudges Jensen off of her. 

Jensen sighs as he worries over not fulfilling his promise to her before the mess of Sheppard and the bank. Make a big score, get out of the town, and retire on a white-sandy beach. 

Danneel rolls into him and softly smiles as she runs her fingertip over his lips. “Two outta three ain’t bad,” she says, reading his mind. She suddenly perks up and grins. “And now there’s three of us.”

Jared darkly chuckles and Jensen looks over to see him idly stroking his cock. Jesus, it’s back to half hard in a matter of minutes. Danneel and Jared are gonna kill him. Jared smirks at him, certainly reading his interest. “Just think of the shenanigans we’ll get up to now.”

“Not now,” Jensen sighs, patting Jared’s thigh. “Maybe in twenty minutes.”

“Danneel?” Jared leans up to glance at her. “You up for another?”

She lets out a hysterical breath. “Not yet. Two orgasms are enough for me.”

“Just two?” Jensen jokes and she smacks his chest.

“Hey, we had four between us,” Jared points out. “That’s something to celebrate.”

Jensen turns to his side and runs his fingers up Jared’s shaft, enjoying Jared’s little hitch of breath. “We got a lot of things to celebrate. About 44 million of them.” 

And being semi-retired on their own patch of Bahamian sand, Jensen’s sure they’ll find ways to celebrate each and every one.


End file.
